Luke's Diner
by Skinfull
Summary: A short fic set over the course of a week or so in and around Luke and his diner. What could possibly go wrong! I dont want ot say too much, lest I give anything away. Fun, romantic fic for Luke and Lorelai
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This is a 7 chapter piece centred around Luke. (Hence the title!) Its completed in that I have written the whole and I've split it into 7 chapters which I will update between now and the weekend. Should have it all up by sunday evening GMT. this is my 2nd GG fic so bear with me if I'm a little OOC. I don't have a beta reader (always looking for volunteers!) so any mistakes are my own.

I have this set in the season where Rory is in college but I didn't really bring any past romances into it. The whole story takes place over a week or so anyway.

Rating is Teen (with one chapter that might be better suited to mature audiences but I think Teen is ok. Let me know if you guys think I should change it. _(It will be chaper 6) _

* * *

**Luke's Diner**

**By Skinfull**

Luke knew the minute she walked in to the diner. The bell sounded different. Well no, it probably didn't he admitted with a chuckle but that didn't stop him from just knowing that she was there. He came out from the store room and tried to keep the smile he was feeling from creeping across his face as he approached her where she was sitting on a stool at the end of the counter.

Without asking he reached for the pot of coffee and poured her a large mug and placed it in front of her.

"Eating today?"

"Pffft, you think I'm on a diet or something?" Luke exhaled sharply and puffed out his cheek as he braced himself on the counter and waited for her to finish her bit. "You think I come in here for the charming atmosphere? The ambience? The banter with the staff?"

"Lorelai…"

"BLT." She grinned widely at him. "On white. Side of fries. Hold the L. And the T."

"So you want a bacon sandwich?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you just say that?" he asked and he immediately regretted it. Even before she responded he rolled his eyes and started to walk towards the kitchen to place her order.

"Because you can't just come in to a diner and ask for a B. What would it mean Luke? What would it mean?" She watched as he came back out from the counter and worked his way around the diner with the pot of coffee to refill his customer's cups, but that didn't stop her from calling out to him. "I'll tell you what it would mean Luke, it would be anarchy! Next thing people would be ordering all food with initials and then where would you be?!"

"Saving money by not needing so many order books?" he muttered beneath his breath hoping that she didn't hear but of course she did.

"What money you would save on those books would quickly be lost by the food you would have wasted by bringing the wrong orders out to people."

"Don't you have to be at work? Should I make this order to go?"

"No, no. I don't have to be back for another half hour. I'll be eating here." She delighted in sight of his eyes rolling skywards.

"Great." He replaced the coffee pot back onto the hot plate and looked at her with lips pressed together. He knew his tone didn't convey it, but he was delighted she was here. And more so he was delighted she was sitting at the counter, rather than a table. With Rory at college she was coming in on her own these days and more often than not she had been sitting at the counter. The stool by the register where she had a perfect view of the whole diner. He could feel her watching him when he worked the register. When he placed orders, collected them, made coffee and generally worked around the room.

He glanced over his shoulder and found her watching him with a cheeky grin. She moved her eyebrows when his eyes locked with hers and he couldn't help but smile. He shook his head and looked away, to concentrate on making a fresh batch of coffee.

"Heard from Rory?" he asked as he turned to wipe the counter and clean up after a customer that just left.

"Yeah she is going on a trip to DC with her Poli Sci class next week."

"So she won't be home tomorrow for the weekend?"

"No." she pouted and pushed her bottom lip out.

"Order up!" Ceaser called from the kitchen.

Luke went to pick up the order and placed her lunch down in front of her.

"But on the good side, it means I don't have to go out to casa Gilmore's for dinner."

"Always a silver lining huh."

"Always."

He left her to eat her lunch and worked on the rest of his diner serving customers and keeping the general trade active. She chatted idly about some documentary she had watched the night before but it elicited little or no response from him. He didn't need to actually partake in this conversation, she was just talking, almost as if she was afraid to eat in silence. He cleared her plate away when she was done and wiped the counter down as he topped up her coffee.

"Pie?" he asked.

"You need to ask?"

"Apple or blueberry?"

"Awww no pecan?"

"All gone."

"You didn't save me a slice?"

"I didn't know you'd be in."

"I've been coming in every day this week."

"Don't I know it." Luke muttered and glanced up at her only to see her mock hurtful expression on her face. "So you want the pie or not?"

"Not. I know when I've overstayed my welcome."

"Lorelai, I didn't mean-"

"No! No! Never let it be said that a Gilmore girl does not know when to walk away!"

"Lorelai!"

She rummaged in her bag for her purse and pulled out enough money to pay for her lunch. She dropped it onto the counter with a flourish. He watched helpless as she turned on her heel and walked out the door and immediately felt bad for teasing her. But as he watched her walking past the window she looked in at him and smiled with a wink making wave of relief wash over him.

* * *

By closing time Luke was tired. He cleaned up, turned off everything, set up for the next morning delivery and made his way up to his small flat above the diner. He went to the fridge and poured out a glass of iced tea then slumped into his arm chair and tried to let his day wash away. He had been up since 5 and had worked the diner alone today with only Cesar in the kitchen. Everything had gone as smoothly as a regular Thursday but that didn't stop his tiredness seeping into his bones. He sipped his iced tea and let his head fall back then closed his eyes for a second. What felt like only moments later he woke up when his alarm rang through the apartment. Luke dragged himself out of his hazy slumber and realised he had slept in the arm chair all night. He sat up and stood to stretch his muscles but winced in pain at the crick in his neck. He reached up to massage it out but it was no use. He went into the bathroom for a hot shower and dressed quickly to make it down to the diner in time to catch his delivery.

The morning rush was barely manageable but the pre-lunch lull was a welcome change of pace. He went into the store room and looked around at his ingredients to see what he would make for the afternoon desserts. As he spotted the pecans on the middle shelf he smiled and grabbed the bag.

When she came in for lunch, he popped his head out of the store room and couldn't help the smile that crept over his lips at the sight of her.

"What's goin on here?" she gestured at him and he frowned. He looked down at his front to see if there was something amiss.

"What?"

"This smile…its new…what's goin on?"

"Nothing." And like that the smile was gone. "Coffee?"

"Please."

He reached for the pot and winced in pain as he over stretched the muscle in his neck. He rubbed his shoulder with one hand as he turned to pour out her coffee.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, its nothing." But he couldn't hide the pain he was feeling. She got up off her stool and came round to the back of the counter. "Lorelai, you can't be back here."

"Show me, let me take a look." She tried to turn him away to take a look and grab his shoulder.

"Lorelai, no, ow! Get out of here," he said as he tried to shoo her away.

"Show me, don't be such a baby."

"Lorelai, go!" he ushered her back to the other side of the counter and went back to the relative safety of his own side.

"Sheesh!" she sipped her cup of coffee but kept an eye on him as he worked his way around the diner, clearly favouring one side on his neck over the other.

"So, are you eating today?"

"Do we have to go through this every day?"

"It's my job. What do you want?" He took the order book out of his back pocket and prepared to write her order down.

"Service with a pleasant demeanour?"

"Go to Westins." He slipped the notebook back into his pocket and turned to walk away but she laughed and called him back.

"Can I get a W with B on the side?" she said with a mischievous grin.

He looked up at her with a thin smile and thought about responding to her but with the niggling pain in his neck and his back sore from sleeping on the chair he wasn't really in the mood for another tirade.

"Fine." Was all he said and he wrote something down in his notebook then added it to the reel by the hatch to the kitchen.

"Really? That's all? Nothing more to add to that?"

"Nope."

"Grumpy today all of a sudden."

"No, just not feeding you any more lines."

"But Luke, if you won't feed me, who will?" She pleaded with him. "I'll waste away to nothing! Do you want to be responsible for that?"

"Lorelai, I'm working here!"

She opened her mouth to speak but the ring of her phone interrupted her. Without looking up Luke pointed at the sign behind his counter and she rolled her eyes as she walked out of the diner. He watched her take the call with one eye and from his vantage point he could see if wasn't a pleasant call. She waved her arms and paced the sidewalk then hung up and took a minute to compose herself before coming back into the diner.

"Everything ok?"

"Yeah, just the usual Gilmore drama from Hartford."

"Emily?"

"Yeah. Another trip down guilt lane."

"Going out there for dinner then?"

"No. I told them I had plans."

"Oh." Luke paused for a moment then continued. "Do you have plans?" he asked at the same time as Caesar called out "Order Up!" drowning out his words and he looked up at Lorelai who was watching him curiously. He grabbed the plate from the hatch and placed it in front of her.

"You deciphered my code!" she said in a high pitched delighted tone and clapped her hands together with a laugh. He had served her sweet waffles with a side of bacon. He stood before her drying mugs and placing them onto the shelf behind him, avoiding her gaze and ignoring her glee.

"Didn't exactly need the enigma machine for it."

She bit into her lunch and sipped her coffee then leaned forward on the counter. "No."

"Huh?" Luke looked up and frowned then glanced from side to side to see if there was someone else she had been talking to, but immediately regretted it as a sharp pain rolled over his neck and shoulders making him wince again, and she didn't miss it.

"I was just responding to your question. About whether I had plans. The answer was no."

"Oh. Ok." He focused back on the cups that needed to be dried and shelved.

"Why do you ask? Were you planning on taking me out on the town?"

"What? No!" He flustered and almost dropped the cup he was holding. "I was just making conversation."

"Yeah, you are renowned for your conversation skills." She finished the last of her waffles and coffee and pushed her plate away then rummaged in her bag for her purse.

"Not staying for pie today?" he asked, thinking of the pecan pie he had just finished before she came in.

"No, not today. I know how you feel about serving me pie."

"Lorelai, c'mon…"

"I can't. I have to get back anyway." She slipped on her coat and left money on the counter. "Thanks for the W & B though, maybe tomorrow I'll try out a CB & F."

Luke rolled his eyes at her as she sauntered away. He tried not to show his disappointment at her short visit and wondered if maybe he would send some pie round to the inn later but thought better of that when he realised Sookie might not like food being delivered to a business she is cooking for.

He knew she would finish work at about 6 and be home shortly afterwards. Some evenings she had come in for dinner too but not every evening. He would see if she would make an appearance later and if not he would maybe bring some pie around. If there was any left, he added then wondered briefly if he had added it to the list of pies that were available. He glanced over at the chalkboard and scanned the list. Strawberry, key lime, blueberry, apple, rhubarb, mixed fruit and mango pies. No pecan. Well, he said to himself, if they ran out, he'd add it.

All day he watched the chalkboard list of pies lessen and the clock on the walk tick slower and slower to closing time. By seven o clock he was down only to rhubarb and he knew there was only one slice of that left. But he was closing soon and there were only a few customers left so he thought he was safe.

She hadn't called in on her way home to collect food and he knew she was always home by now, so he guessed she was curled up on her couch with an ungodly amount of food and an old movie. Maybe she wouldn't want pie. He wondered, already doubting himself before he had even really decided to call round. Then as the last customer left and Caesar cleaned up the kitchen he realised he was going to call round. He went into the store and pulled the pie out of the press then placed it into a takeout box.

"Taking your work home with you?" Caesar said with a chuckle as he took off his apron and left it hanging on a hook on the door frame. "You know that's not good for you."

"I'll manage."

"Okay, I'm going to take off. See you tomorrow!" Caesar saluted as he walked through the diner and out the door and Luke soon followed suit.

His truck was parked outside and it was a balmy night so he didn't bother with his jacket. The short distance to her house was covered in no time and he only hesitated now that he was parked outside, behind her jeep. He took a deep breath, grabbed the pie box from the passenger seat and climbed out. He crossed her lawn in a few easy strides and knocked on the door.

"Whoo Hoo!" came a call from the inside and he heard her singing as she came to the door. She flung the door open but had her head bent as she rummaged through her bag for money. When she found the amount she needed he held it out and looked up. "Oh! It's you!"

"Sorry."

"I thought you were Chinese food."

"No. Just pie." He lifted up the box and she squealed out in delight.

"You brought me pie?"

"Pecan pie."

"You brought me pecan pie?" Luke shrugged but winced again at the pain in his neck. "Come in, I just ordered some Chinese and I'm about to watch Cheaper by the Dozen but not the cheaper by the dozen staring Steve Martin and Bonnie hunt, but the original from 1950 that was based on the book."

"Wasn't the Steve Martin version based on the book too?"

"No!" She held up her hand to stop him. "It was based on the movie that was based on the book."

"Oh, ok, important distinction."

"Good, I'm glad we agree." She opened the door up wider. "So come in."

"No, its ok, I've got to get back." He held out the pie box for her to take but she just looked at it and then looked back up to him.

"Come in Luke!"

"No, I can't. Early delivery tomorrow."

"Its seven thirty."

"Really early delivery. Take this."

She took the pie and he backed away then turned at the top of the stairs and hurried back to his truck. She watched him take off and closed the door then brought the pie into the kitchen and opened the box. She expected a couple of slices not a full pecan pie. She smiled and grabbed a plate and cut herself a healthy slide then carried it into the living room and pressed play on the video.

Luke got back to the diner and went up to his apartment. He wasn't sure why he didn't go in when she invited him but something was pulling him away. He reached up to his shoulders and tried to massage the kink out of his neck. He took a hot shower and tried not to think about it. In his head he went over the itinerary of items he was expecting in the delivery the next morning as he dried off and climbed into bed. After sleeping on the arm chair the night before he was looking forward to stretching out in the cool sheets and letting his sleep wash over him and he was right, it didn't take long for his slumber to encompass his brain.

He dreamt he was making pies. Every available flat surface on his diner was covered in pies. He was cutting patterns into the pastry and lining them up to go into the stove. He was rolling pastry, mixing sauces dusting them with sugar and cutting them up. When he reached to open the stove the door fell open and a wave of heat hit him, making him back away. Suddenly he realised he was surrounded by stoves. And one by one all the doors fell open. He tried to get by them but the heat was too much, the smoke turned black and he tried to cover his mouth to keep breathing.

Luke woke up coughing and spluttering and in seconds realised he was surrounded by black smoke. He rolled out of the bed and on to the floor. He hurried commando style across his apartment to the phone by the door and dialled 911. When the dispatcher responded he gave his address and she said the fire brigade was on the way. She stayed on the phone with Luke as he tried to find a way out.

There was only on way out of his apartment but before he could race to freedom he realised he needed to dress. He had gone to bed straight after his shower and hadn't bothered to put on any pyjamas.

He grabbed a pair of shorts and a top from the chair at the end of the bed and dressed as quick as he could without getting off the floor so he could stay out of the smoke. He grabbed his sneakers and brought them with him to the door of his apartment where he tested the door knob and to his relief it was still cool. He pulled it open and hurried down the stairs but couldn't get all the way down as the smoke was thick and black and forced him back up the stairs. He went to the windows and pulled them open but they weren't big enough to climb out of.

"I'm stuck!" he said into the phone.

"Stay calm sir, the fire truck is on the way. Wet a towel and cover your mouth to help you breath. Stay low!"

Luke did as he was told then crouched low beneath the open window and tried to stay out of the smoke.

To his relief he could hear the sirens getting closer and soon they had pulled up outside his diner. He could hear chief Brody calling out orders to the fire men outside and he grabbed a yellow towel and shoved it out the window to get their attention. Soon there was a fireman standing on a ladder outside his window. He instructed Luke to step back and when he found cover the fireman put an axe through the window, covered the bottom of the frame and called out to Luke to climb out.

When he put his feet down on solid ground out on the street Luke turned to look at his diner engulfed in flames. And only then did it him what was happening. His instinct to escape had kept the thoughts at bay as to what exactly he was losing, and now looking on as the firemen battled the flames he realised what was happening.

An EMT came over and offered him a blanket and some oxygen but Luke pushed him aside. He was rooted to the spot, waiting for the outcome. From what he could tell this was a destructive fire with more than just cosmetic damage being left behind. The windows of the diner had been blown out from the heat and black smoke was pouring out of the open windows of his apartment.

About fifteen minutes after the fire brigade arrived it seemed all flames had been extinguished. Chief Brody examined the building with one of the firemen before coming out to meet Luke on the street.

"It'll be tomorrow before I can get you a full report."

"What the hell happened?"

"Looks to me like an electrical short from the stove."

"What?" Luke tried to walk into the diner but Brody held him back.

"You can't go in. Not until we have it fully inspected."

"I live there! I work in there!" Luke exclaimed. "Everything I own is in there!"

"Luke I'm sorry, but you have to wait. It's not safe. I'll start the building frame inspection at first light."

"What the hell…" he started to cough but instead of just one or two rounds it turned into a fit. He braced his hands on his knees and tried to get control of it but the EMT he had ushered away came running over and this time he let him put the oxygen mask on his face. Luke was led over to the waiting ambulance and Brody followed.

"First light Luke. I'll call you when it's done."

"Call me?" Luke said between coughs. "How? I don't have a god dammed cell phone."

"Call me when you get out of the hospital."

Luke nodded, choosing not to verbally respond until he could control his breathing and lay back on the gurney as the EMT took his blood pressure and attached EKG readers to his chest.

They kept him in the hospital overnight but Luke couldn't sleep. All he could think about was his fathers hardware store. The office upstairs he had turned into an apartment and how now, everything was gone. His chest hurt, his lips were dry and cracked and he couldn't get the taste of the smoke out of his mouth no matter how many times he brushed. He lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling and counted the hours until first light.


	2. Chapter 2

Lorelai dressed and was out the door in record time. She intended to get to the diner early enough to have enough time to eat breakfast and not just steal a cup of coffee to drink at work. She wanted to thank Luke for the pie and make sure he knew what he missed by not hanging around after he delivered it. But as she pulled onto the main street she noticed the yellow tape on the street cordoning off the building. The black stains up the front of the walls were unmistakeable and the fire chief's car with the red light still flashing as it was blocking some of the road made her heart stop still in her chest.

She parked next to the chief's car and jumped out and hurried over but a police officer stopped her from getting in.

"What the hell happened here? Luke! Luke!" She called out.

"He's not here. He's at the hospital."

"Oh god!" she cried out.

"He's fine, they took him in for smoke inhalation."

"What happened?"

"Electrical fire in the middle of the night."

"Oh that's awful."

She backed away from the diner and pulled out her cell phone to call the inn. Michel answered with his usual droll tone but she didn't wait for him to finish his greeting.

"Michel, it's me."

"Who?"

"Me!"

"Who?"

"Michel! It's me, Lorelai!"

"Oh, hello Lorelai. Candice has called in sick so we're short two maids for the bedroom service, Kurt broke a window in the dining hall and we need to call-"

"Michel, you need to take care of all of that. I won't be in for a few hours."

"What? It's Saturday!"

"I know Michel, I know, look there's been a fire and Luke was brought to the hospital and I need to go see him. I'll be in later, should make it before the lunch rush. Tell Sookie I'll call her later."

She ended the call and hurried back to her truck to make her way to the hospital.

* * *

Luke sat on the edge of the bed with his back to the door. He was wearing a hospital gown and waiting for the doctor to come in and discharge him so he could go to the fire station and talk to Chief Brody. He had gotten word that the report was complete and Brody would meet him at the station when he was ready.

He looked at the chair by his bed where his shorts and top were lying in a crumpled heap. He could smell the smoke off them from here and dreaded when he would have to put them back on. When the door opened he turned expecting to see the doctor but instead only saw Lorelai standing there. She looked worried and relieved at the sight of him and as she stepped into the room and came close to him, the worry faded and relief took over.

"Luke…" She stood beside the bed and for a moment he wasn't sure if she was going to hug him or not. She seemed to outstretch her arms but hesitated. He did the same and also hesitated and they both ended up in an awkward position of a half hug when the door opened again and the doctor walked in.

"Mr Danes."

"That's me." Luke dropped his arms and stood up to turn and face the doctor, realising only too late he had his back to Lorelai and there was a draft coming in the back of his gown. He reached behind himself and held his gown closed then half turned his back away from her with a blush. She smiled but averted her eyes.

"You are free to go. Take this inhaler, two puffs every morning and evening for the next three weeks."

"Ok, thanks."

"Have you used an inhaler before?"

"No, but its just point and shoot right?"

"Put the nozzle in your mouth, exhale deeply then as you inhale press the dispensing button, then hold it for 8 seconds." His voice was monotone as if he was bored handing out these instructions as he wrote on Luke's chart then turned and left the room without another word.

Luke turned back to face Lorelai. "Some bedside manner huh."

"What happened?"

"I dunno, I need to go to the fire station now and find out."

"I'll take you."

"No, you don't have to-"

"Luke…I'm taking you. Get dressed."

He grabbed his clothes off the chair and slipped his shorts on under his gown. She walked to the end of the bed and looked away, fiddled with his chart knocking it to the floor with a loud clatter. She bent to pick it up and when she stood up again he had pulled off the gown and was reaching for his top. She tried to look away but her eyes were glued to his chest. Red marks, and back streaks from what she guessed was his escape from the fire the night before didn't detract from the wide shoulders and broad chest, covered in a fine dusting of dark hair that taped off down his abdomen to the rim of his shorts. Only when he pulled the top on over his head did she break out of her gaze and thankfully he didn't seem to notice her staring.

"Ready?" He pulled his sneakers on without tying them, then grabbed his discharge papers and his inhaler and followed her out the door.

They drove in silence to the fire station. And he was surprised when she parked in a space rather than just pulled up outside.

"That's ok, you don't need to come in. I can walk from here."

"Walk? To where exactly?" She undid her belt and turned in her seat to look at him.

"Home, it's only a few blocks." He gestured out the window in the direction of the diner.

"It might only be a few blocks Luke but it's also covered in smoke damage and currently has no windows. And that's all I could see from the street."

"You saw?" He looked down at his hands in his lap.

"Yeah, I did." They were silent for a minute more but she couldn't take it anymore. She reached out and put a hand on his arm. "I'm so sorry Luke, I'm so sorry."

He nodded, not trusting himself to say anything. Instead he undid his own seatbelt and climbed out of her jeep. She sat in her chair not sure if she should go with him or wait out here but when he walked around her car to her door and opened it she climbed out and they both went in.

Chief Brody was waiting in his office for him. He had a print of the diner on the wall and was marking it with a red marker when they walked in.

"Luke, how are you doing?"

"Fine. How bad is the damage?"

"Actually not that bad at all."

"Really?!"

"A lot of cosmetic damage. About 80% of the downstairs will need to be redone in terms of cosmetics, the upstairs is not so bad."

"And apart from the cosmetic damage? What about the structure?"

"Over all the struts all seem to be very solid still. Foundation is strong in that building. They don't build them like that anymore. The ceiling in the kitchen will need to be replaced, the front frame too but I don't think you will be out of commission for too long."

"Oh man!" Luke sighed with relief and covered his face with his hands. "Thank god!"

"It's safe to work in. Water damage as you can imagine is quite extensive. Most of the kitchen equipment will need to be replaced."

"I'll have insurance for that."

"I have processed the report already and we should get a slip for you by Wednesday next week."

"Great, thanks Brody."

"Call your insurance guy and get them to come over before you do any work."

"I will." Luke stood and they shook hands. "Thanks for everything."

Back out in the street Luke got to the car and put his hands on the bonnet, then bowed his head and took a few deep breaths. Lorelai leaned back beside him and nudged him with her elbow.

He looked over at her and smiled.

"C'mon, let's go take a look."

They climbed into the jeep and drove to the diner. She parked behind his truck and they both hurried inside. The tables, chairs and counter were charred beyond use. The shelves were black with the paint peeling off them. Puddles of water collected in odd spots around the floor and in the kitchen nothing was barely recognisable.

"Wow…" Lorelai whistled low under her breath as she walked around after him.

Luke went over to the load bearing walls and nudged them. He shoved his shoulder against the arch and seemed satisfied at the result.

"Yeah…wow." He moved around the diner in silence and her heart ached at the sight of his slumped shoulders and furrowed brow. When he went upstairs she left him to it and waited by the counter for him. He was up there for mere moments before she heard his footsteps coming back down.

"How bad is it up there?"

"Not too bad. I'll need new windows and to give it a lick of paint. New linen and wardrobe too."

"Oh I knew you'd find a silver lining!" she clapped her hands together and smiled. "Just think of this as an opportunity to reinvent yourself Luke! No more flannel shirts or hats!"

"I like my flannel shirts." He spoke softly and coldly.

"Really? All of them?"

"I like my flannel shirts." This time his voice was louder but she missed the difference and kept pushing.

"Even that green one?"

"Especially the green one."

"The red one?"

"Lorelai. Drop it."

"Okay. Fine. It's just I can't remember a time when you weren't wearing a flannel shirt." He turned away from her and ducked behind the counter but she kept talking. "I think even on the first day I came in here you were wearing one."

When he didn't pop his head up or respond she looked over the edge of the counter to see him crouched by the wall behind the counter, and his hands brushed the black sooty dust off the side wall of the counter.

"Luke?" she came around and crouched beside him. "What are you doing?"

"My dad wrote this here when it was a hardware store."

She looked at the wall and saw an order for hardware supplies written in black marker.

"Oh Luke, I'm so sorry." She rubbed his arm and settled onto the ground beside him, to lean against him.

"You already said that."

"I know…I just…"

"I know."

They sat like that for a few minutes. He was lost in thought and she was lost in an attempt to just be with him. For a while he just let the memory engulf him but when he felt the stirrings of tears start to collect in his eyes he abruptly stood up and brushed the front of his top down, leaving streaks of soot all over it.

"Oh crap!" he tried to brush the soot off but only made it worse. "This is the last thing I have to wear!"

"Nothing upstairs is useable?" She stood up and watched as he made his top even blacker. "Stop! You're making it worse!"

"Ugh, what does it matter. It's going to get filthy from working in here anyway." He looked up at her with a crooked smile and she couldn't help but smile back at him. "So yeah… thanks for the lift."

"Anytime." They stood in silence for a moment and she watched as he looked around the room and avoided her. "So I guess I'll take off and leave you to call the insurance and all that."

"Yeah, thanks again."

She waved and walked out of the diner but before he could move to the phone on the wall she came hurrying back in.

"Luke!"

"Huh? What?"

"Where are you staying?"

"What? Here. Why?"

"No! You can't stay here!"

"Why? The Chief said it would be fine."

"No, he said it's safe to work in, you can't stay here while it's like this. Not with your chest like that."

"It's fine."

"No Luke. It's not. Come stay with me, or stay at the inn." He frowned at her suggestion. "Rory is in college so her room is there, all free and unloved."

"No I couldn't impose."

"Ok, you can rent a room at the Inn, I'll even give you a family discount."

"Lorelai, really, its fine."

"Okay, then its settled. I'll pick you up at 7. Or if you want to go back to my place before then, there is a key in the turtle on the porch." She smiled then turned on her heel and walked out without giving him a chance to respond fully.

Luke watched her drive off and walked to the door to keep her in view for a few seconds longer, then shook his head and smiled and turned back to his diner. He spent the rest of the day sorting out his insurance, calling contractors and arranging for a skip to be placed outside the diner for the next day so he could begin work. Loads of the townsfolk came by to talk and offer their sympathies and by the time the evening rolled by and he spotted Lorelai driving down the street he was ready to bolt away from the diner to get away from it all. He had gathered some personal effects in a small bag but no matter how he looked at it, none of his clothing would be useable again. All of it stank of smoke, some of it was singed as his wardrobe was placed directly above the kitchen and there was nothing salvageable at all.

He grabbed some toiletries, his wallet and keys and was sitting on the steps to his diner when she pulled up out front. She leaned over and opened the passenger door and called out to him.

"Hey hustler, how much do you charge for a whole night?" she delighted in the mixed look of embarrassment and annoyance that crossed his face as he grabbed his bag and climbed into the car beside her. "So? How did it go?"

"Work starts tomorrow at first light."

"Insurance company already came out?"

"Yeah. Fully covered, unless the report says something surprising."

"Oh that's great Luke, I'm delighted for you."

He nodded and smiled. They drove the rest of the way in silence but by the time they got to the house his heart was beating a little faster and as if she sensed his nervousness she filled the void with idle chatter. She opened the door and invited him in then spoke about her house as if it were the inn.

"We have a 24hr kitchen available to all guests willing to go in and cook for themselves. Though the ingredients you might see in there are like sighting a lion on the Serengeti. The living room is open to all guests all the time. We have several movie channels-"

"Of course."

"As well as the usual splattering of terrestrial channels. Feel free to peruse at your leisure. Now, sir, if you'll follow me I'll show you to your room."

To his surprise she showed him upstairs. He was sure Rory's room was downstairs. He remembered when he was in here fixing a broken lock she has been studying in the room next to the kitchen. He dismissed the thought and figured they had swapped rooms or something but then as she led him into a large master bedroom he knew instinctively that this was Lorelai's bedroom.

"This is your bedroom, with ensuite bathroom facilities. The shower is a little finicky where you need to blast the cold water for thirteen seconds, before turning it all the way to the right until the water is as hot as lava, and at that point, turn it back to the 7pm position for a normal temperature shower."

"Lorelai…"

"There are towels in the press in the hall, and pillows and blankets too if you need them."

"Lorelai…"

"I'll leave you now to settle in and if you need anything-"

"Lorelai!" He grabbed her arm to stop her from walking away. "Wait, this isn't Rory's room."

"Ha! She wishes!"

"I can't stay here, this is your room."

"No not at all, this is the guest room we have for an emergency just like this!"

"It's not, this is your room and I can't stay here."

"Luke, I came home at lunch to fix up Rory's room and I realised not only is the bed too small for you but I just didn't think she would be comfortable with someone staying in her room beside me."

"And you are ok with it?"

"Yes, of course!" She patted his hand on her arm and smiled. "You are welcome to stay here for as long as you like. Now go, take a shower, you stink!"

She turned and walked out leaving him in the middle of the room staring after her in surprise. He dropped his small bag on the floor next to the bathroom door and went into turn on the shower. He followed her instructions to find the right temperature and made a mental note to fix that before he left. He Pulled off his top and was relieved to get it off his skin. It was grimy and black and encrusted with soot. He did the same with his shorts and kicked off his sneakers before grabbing a towel and stepping into the shower.

He had the water as hot as he could stand it and let it work magic on his muscles to sooth his aching neck and back. He stayed in there for longer than he would have liked but was loving the sensation of the water pounding his tension away. Eventually he came to enough to soap himself down and wash his hair and rinse himself down fully. Then he turned off the water and climbed out. He grabbed the towel and dried himself off then wrapped it around his waist and walked back into the bedroom but only then did he realise he had nothing to change into. He picked up his shorts and top with a look of disgust and decided against putting that back on. He knew she had a washer drier in the back room downstairs and thought he could put these in now and they would be ready for the morning.

But that would mean walking downstairs in just a towel into her living room where she was probably lying on the couch. He could stay up here until she went to bed and then run them through the wash, but if she was sleeping in Rory's room the washer could keep her up. Luke sat on the edge of the bed and contemplated his next step. But realising he couldn't just do nothing he took a breath, checked the knot on the towel he was wearing was secure enough and made his way down stairs.

She wasn't in the living room or the kitchen to his utter relief so he hurried out to the washer and set it for a quick cycle, threw in some powder then went back to the kitchen, and turned to close the door softly.

"Oh it's like a living breathing levis ad in my own kitchen."

Luke jumped at the sound of her voice as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie drawer.

"Jeez, you scared me."

"Doing some housework?"

"Just putting the only clothing I own into the wash."

"Oh god, you are going to wear those again?"

"Yeah, what else can I do?"

"Take them out back and shoot them?"

"And then?"

"Buy more."

"While wearing what exactly."

Lorelai let her eyes linger up and down his body, and waggled her eyebrows making him blush.

"You don't like the towel?"

"Not while I'm out shopping."

He sidled through the kitchen, keeping a while knuckle grip on the towel and tried to keep his back to her. She sat at the table smiling at him, watching him try to make his way around her without getting to close to her.

"I have something you can wear."

"You do?" He looked her up and down. "I'm not sure I'll fit into your clothes."

"No, god no! And if you did I would have to kill myself!" She got up and patted his shoulder as she passed by him. "C'mon."

She hurried back up the stairs and into her room where she found a box in the wardrobe and tried to pull it down off the top shelf. She struggled with its weight and almost dropped it but Luke came up behind her and caught it. She found herself in the circle of his arms, her back pressed to his chest, his hands covering hers on the box.

"You have it?"

"I have it."

She ducked out from his arms and let him pull the box down and place it on the chair by the window. She couldn't help but notice how the towel he was wearing was riding low on his hips now that he had let go of it. The small curve of his back dipped beneath the towel and she could see the top of his ass. She looked away quickly and hoped he didn't notice but he was too interested in what was in the box.

"What's this?"

"A box of clothes."

She pulled the top of the box open and he looked in to see a collection of tee-shirts, shorts, jeans and sweats. All male items of clothing.

"Whose are these?"

"Remnants of all the gentleman callers I've had over the years."

"What?" Luke abruptly dropped all the clothes he was holding and looked at her but she was laughing and he realised she was joking.

"No, but you should have seen the look on your face. You are such a prude!" He rolled his eyes at her. "They clothes I wore when I was pregnant with Rory."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I couldn't afford maternity clothing, so I bought men's clothes instead."

Luke pulled out a large tee that he thought might even be too big for him and held it up with a look of confusion on his face. "I thought you were 16 when you had Rory."

"Hey! I was huge! Don't mock me!" She swatted his arm and he dropped the tee with a smile. "Look, take a look through there and I'm sure you'll find something that fits."

"Thanks, this is great." He smiled at her and their eyes locked. She felt a heat rising from her neck and hoped he didn't notice in the dim light of her room. He looked like he was about to say something but instead they were interrupted by the doorbell.

"Put some clothes on, you are positively indecent!" She said as she backed away from him. "I've ordered pizza. Come down when you are ready."

He smiled and nodded and she turned and left. He watched her leave then focused back on the box of clothes to find something to wear she wouldn't mock him over. He settled on a plain pair of elasticated navy sweats that were a little too short for him and a dark red tee with a yellow yoyo on the front.

He went down stairs and found her sitting on the living room with an untouched pizza on the table I front of her. She was fiddling with the report for the TV and was either rewinding or fast-forwarding a video.

"You waited?" he said with admiration. He knew she had little or no restraint when it came to food.

"Yeah, of course. Come. Sit." She patted the couch beside her and he walked over and sat down with a sigh. "Tired?"

He nodded.

"Here, have a slice." She picked up a slice with a napkin and passed it to him then passed him an open bottle of beer and held her own up for him to clink to.

"Thanks."

"So tonight's movie," she said after taking a gulp of her beer. "Is a little known Molly Ringwald movie called the Breakfast club."

"I know that movie."

Lorelai shook her head and turned to face him with pure shock written all over her face.

"Shut up. And press play." He gestured to the tv and bit into his pizza slice.

She stared at him for a moment longer then pressed lay on the video without looking away from him.

"Aren't you going to watch?"

"I am watching."

"You're watching me, not the movie."

"I'm watching you watch the movie."

"Lorelai."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop." She faced the tv but watched him from the corner of her eyes for a few minutes more.

He already felt out of place. He was sitting on her couch, she had her feet tucked under her but they had slipped towards him and were now resting against his thigh. He was wearing unfamiliar clothes. A tee that was a little too tight and stretched across his chest, and sweats that were too short and forced him to pull the legs up to just below his knees in a fashion that he thought made him look less stupid. So he didn't need her watching him all evening on top of it all.

The pain in his neck and shoulders was niggling after the day of work he had put in at the diner and all he really wanted was to go to bed, lie down and fall into the oblivion of slumber but he felt like he should sit up with her for a while longer. His eyes drooped closed more than once and he wasn't even sure for how long. He jerked himself away and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and dry washed his face.

"Tired?" she asked not missing how he dozed in and out of sleep.

"A little."

"Fibber."

"Okay, more than a little."

"Go to bed, I'll clean up here."

"No, let me help." He started to close the pizza box but she tugged on his arm to stop him.

"No Luke honestly. You've been through enough today."

Slowly he nodded his head and went to get up but stopped himself and turned to her.

"Thanks. Thanks for everything."

She smiled and patted his arm and slowly he stood careful to hide his discomfort from her but she didn't miss it.

"You're back ok?"

"Yeah, I just need to sleep."

"Oh wait," she jumped up and ran into the kitchen to grab his inhaler. "Don't forget to take this."

"Oh yeah, thanks." He took the inhaler from her flat palm as she handed it to him and made to go upstairs.

"Well?" she called out to him making him stop and turn back to her. "Aren't you going to take it?"

"Yeah. I was going to take it upstairs."

"Take it down here, so I can make sure you are taking it right."

"What? No!"

"Luke you've never taken one before."

"And you have?"

"No." She rested her hands on her hips and looked at him with her sternest expression. "But I've helped Rory take them when she was sick as a kid."

"Ok, fine." He turned to face her fully, took the inhaler out of the box and scanned the box for instructions. He was having trouble remembering what the doctor had said. Something about inhaling, exhaling and pressing the button. He lifted the mouthpiece to his lips and took a deep breath as he pressed the dispenser then held his breath for a few seconds. "Satisfied?" he said with a cough as he turned to walk back up the stairs.

"No mister! You need to take two puffs."

"Can't I just go to bed?"

"One more."

He rolled his eyes and lifted it to his mouth again, this time holding his breath for a little longer.

"Now, can I go to bed now?"

"Yes you may." She bowed a little before him and smiled as he hurried up the stairs.

She nodded again and let him walk away. He glanced back at her from the top of the stairs then smiled and disappeared around the corner towards his room.

She stayed up and had another slice of pizza then cleaned it all up. While she was in the kitchen she heard the dryer finishing its cycle. She grabbed his clothes and folded them then went to bring them upstairs but hesitated. She moved slowly through the house, conscious not to wake him but found his, or rather her, bedroom door ajar. She thought about pushing it open and depositing the clothes on the end of the bed but caught a glimpse of him in her bed.

He had discarded the tee-shirt and sweats and was lying with his back to her. The duvet covered his lower abdomen and his ass but his legs were free and his back was bare. She looked at him for a moment then feeling like a voyeur she left the clean shorts and tee she was holding outside the door and hurried back down to Rory's room.


	3. Chapter 3

Luke woke up and rolled over onto his back. Something was wrong. His chest ached, his shoulders and neck too and his lower back was pulsating with a low dull pain. But he couldn't help but smile. He lay awake for a few moments, interlocked his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. Never in a million years did he think he would be waking up, naked, in Lorelai Gilmores's bed. He had to admit he had thought of it before, wondered what it would be like and now that he was here he couldn't help but feel like something was wrong, something was missing.

Of course he knew what it was. The fact that she was not lying beside him was one major difference between this reality and his oft fantasy version of this. He chuckled but immediately regretted it as the laugh turned into a coughing fit. He sat up and threw his legs out of the bed. He gripped the edge of the mattress as he tried to regain control of his lungs but the cough had taken over and he just had to ride it out, each spasm causing more and more pain to shoot across his back and his chest.

"Luke?" her call came from downstairs but he couldn't control his voice to call out to her to tell her everything was ok. He heard her footsteps approaching hurriedly up the stairs and she paused only long enough to knock lightly on the door before pushing it open and coming to kneel before him. "Hey, hey now. relax…"

She put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it down his arm. She had a glass of water in her other hand and passed it to him but he waited for the coughs to subside before risking taking a drink in case he did a spit take all over her. Eventually he regained control of his lungs, he took a few deep breaths and then sipped the water she had handed him.

"You ok?" He nodded, not trusting himself to talk yet. "Take your inhaler."

He cast her a look of annoyance but took the inhaler from the bedside table and took two puffs.

"Happy?"

She nodded and smiled. Her hand had come down his arm and she was holding his wrist. He suddenly became very aware of how naked he was and shifted his legs then pulled the duvet over himself a bit more.

"Oh…Sorry, I'll just…yeah" she stood up and backed away from him then quickly turned and walked away, closing the bedroom door behind her.

Luke dry washed his face with both hands then stood up and dropped the duvet to the floor, only for her to knock on the door again and push it open without waiting for him to call her in.

"Hey, your shorts and tee are washed and dried, I folded them-"

"Hey, wait!" He dove for the duvet again but it had dropped to the floor so he grabbed a pillow instead and used it to cover his modesty.

"Oh!" She dropped his clothes on the floor and covered her face with both hands. "I didn't see, I didn't see!"

"Get out!"

"Sorry!" She backed away but walked into the chest of drawers, then tried again and hit the door slamming it closed behind her. She tried to open it with her eyes screwed shut but her hand fumbled for the door knob and she kept missing it.

"Lorelai…" but she ignored him and continued to try and escape the room without opening her eyes. "Lorelai, stop before you hurt yourself." He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder to halt her frantic gestations. Then holding the pillow against his front securely he reached behind her and opened the door.

"Thanks." She tried to back away from the room again, still without opening her eyes and walked into the chest of drawers again, then tried another direction and banged her shoulder into his chest, making him grunt in pain.

"Open your eyes," he said and he gripped her elbow to stop her from moving away. "Before you hurt yourself, or worse… me."

She smiled and lowered her hands from her face then opened one eye to get her surroundings. She was standing really close to him, her shoulder brushing his chest. She opened her other eye and smiled shyly.

"Sorry."

"It's ok."

"I'll eh," she couldn't help it. Her eyes dropped from his face, down his chest to the pillow he was holding securely against himself. "Yeah, I'll just leave." She turned on her heel and walked away and he closed the door behind her then leaned back on it, not realising she was doing the same on the other side.

Luke showered and dressed then carried his sneakers with him down to the kitchen where he found her standing against the sink sipping coffee. She smiled wanly at him as he approached and offered him a tea.

"Tea? Do you even have any?"

"Yeah, somewhere, it's been here for a while though and I'm pretty sure it came over on the mayflower with the British."

"I'll pass."

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"Ok." He didn't want to tell her his back was aching, his shoulders pulsating, his neck was twisted and his lungs felt like he was breaking through a deep diving snorkel and every breath took tremendous effort. She nodded as if she could hear his thoughts and knew his dismissal of her question was a front.

"So what's on the agenda for this fine Sunday?" She opened the fridge and offered him a carton of orange juice.

"Get to work on the diner." He nodded and took the glass of juice she poured for him. "I have a contractor arriving in an hour and a skip in about 30 minutes."

"On a Sunday?"

"Yeah, it took some finagling."

"I bet."

"So yeah, I better get down there." He put the empty glass on the table and sat down to put on his sneakers. He slipped them on without tying them then stood and brushed down his clothes.

"Oh here, in case you need it." She brushed past him and went to the key holder by the front door. She searched through various bunches of keys then found what she was looking for and passed it to him. "Spare key."

"Oh, well I don't think I'll need it."

"Luke, we've already had this conversation. I'm not letting you sleep in that diner, or that apartment until it's been cleared up. You're lungs are bad enough without sleeping there."

"Ok, thanks." His grip on the keys tightened and he smiled then hurried out the door and closed it behind him.

* * *

By lunch time Luke was fit to collapse. His chest was aching worse than he thought possible. He was wearing a filter mask over his mouth and nose and was working with the contractors to clear out the burned rubble from the diner. Another group of contractors were pulling down the ceiling from the kitchen. He had given full instructions on what he wanted and he even pulled the sidewall of the counter where his father had written the order out. He put it in the large safe in the apartment then got back to sifting through his belongings to see what was useable.

When Lorelai came by with a large tray of coffee and sandwiches from the Inn she called out to the workers in the diner to "come get it" and he smiled as he approached. He had pulled his mask down off his face and the clothes he was wearing were filthy again.

"Thanks for this, you didn't need to. You've already done so much."

"I've always wanted to shout that at a group of working men."

"Come get it?"

She waggled his eyebrows at him then passed him a cup. "For you."

"I don't drink coffee."

"It's tea. Lemon tea to help with your asthma. Apparently the bitter taste helps to open up your airways."

"Oh!" He was surprised that she had gone to this trouble as he took the cup and gingerly sipped it. "Whoa, that is bitter."

"How's it goin in there?"

"Slowly. But making progress."

"I see your clothes are holding up well."

He looked down at himself and the state of his clothes and shrugged. "They are going to get a hell of a lot worse before they get better."

"You need new clothes."

"I don't have time to go shopping."

"Let me!" she yelled out, garnering attention from the group of contractors that were eating sandwiches next to them. "Oh Luke let me go shopping for you."

"No, its fine. I'll call up Jakes store later and put an order in."

"Jakes? The fishing tackle shop?"

"They have clothes too."

"Luke!" She swatted his arm and he wasn't sure if the look of annoyance on her face was real or mocking.

"What! It's temporary until I have time to go shopping."

"I have time. Let me. What are you a 38 long in the pants? XL tops neck about 17 inches?"

"Eh yeah, actually, how did you know?"

"I secretly measured you in your sleep last night." He had lifted the cup to take a sip when she spoke and the cup hovered against his lips. "So I'll go shopping now and drop some stuff back to the house, no point in bringing them here."

"Okay, but just the bare essentials. Jeans, tops, a shirt or two."

"You usually go commando?" she said.

"Not on purpose no." He sipped his cup and looked away from her smile. "Oh and take this." He handed her his wallet. "Credit card is in there, somewhere."

"Yay!" She clapped her hands and smiled widely then without waiting for him to change her mind she raced off and left him watching after her.

For the rest of the day Luke kept sifting through his belongings, making two piles of stuff he could keep and stuff he needed to toss out. Unfortunately the tossing pile was 90% of his belongings with only a few utensils and keepsakes making it into the keep pile. And even then he thought it was only because he wasn't ready to part with them, rather than their actual usefulness. And all the while he wondered what she was doing. What she was buying him and what would be greeting him when he got back to her place later.

The contracting crew clocked out at about 6 but he stayed on a while longer to finish up but as the dust became too much and he fell into his third coughing fit in an hour he decided to call it quits. He turned off the construction lights and tossed his face mask into the bin then climbed into his truck and made his way back to Lorelai's house. He had the keys in his pocket and as he approached the porch he wondered if he should use them or knock. Her jeep was parked in the drive and he could hear music playing from inside. It seemed rude to just barge in but he wasn't sure if she would hear him knocking so he took the keys out of his pocket and made as much noise as he could to announce his arrival.

She was playing some fast rock music he didn't recognise and dancing around her kitchen, using a wooden spoon as a makeshift microphone. Her hips swayed from side to side in time with the music and he found himself leaning against the archway watching her with a smile. She continued to dance and sing only noticing him when the song ended and she twirled around for her final flair.

"Oh! You're home. I mean, back, you're back." She tossed the spoon over her shoulder into the sink and brushed her hair down and tucked it behind her ears. "How did it go?"

"It was good. Got a lot done."

"How long do you think it will be before you can open up again?"

"Shouldn't be too long. Maybe a week or two."

"Anything salvageable?"

"Nothing much." He bowed his head and she wanted to reach out and comfort him but from the look she caught on his face before he looked away she thought he was up to here with sympathetic pats on the shoulder and understanding looks.

"I left your things up in your room."

"Oh, ok. Thanks." He straightened up off the wall. "I guess I'll go take a shower and change."

"You hungry? I'll get dinner ready." She said making him stop in his tracks and turn back to face her with an eyebrow arched. "I didn't mean cook…I meant order." She clarified and he smiled crookedly.

"No, let me, it's the least I can do."

"Luke its fine. You go, go shower, change, I'll arrange dinner." She ushered him up the stairs and took the phone off the cradle then fell back onto the couch.

He could hear her talking to Mike from the Chinese takeout on main street and smiled at the argument she was having with him over her choice.

In the room he found a few shopping bags on the bed and went over to inspect her purchases before turning on the shower, almost dreading what he was going to find. From the first bag he pulled out a pair of navy jeans. He turned them around in his hands and found them to be normal, with no designer stitches or patches. He checked the bag again and found another pair of soft blue denim jeans and a pack of plan black cotton tee-shirts. The next bag had a red and blue check flannel shirt and a plan blue cotton one. A third bag had a pair of heavy duty cargo pants and a olive green long sleeve cotton top he knew she had bought for him to wear while working at the diner. And the final bag had a couple of multipacks of socks and a mixture of boxers and briefs. He smiled at her purchases and wondered how long she deliberated over the boxers and briefs question before stepping into the shower.

Every part of his body ached. Muscles screamed in pain every time he moved his arms and his back seemed to creak and wail with every movement he made. He dried off and dressed in the soft blue jeans and the red and blue check shirt and wondered how she got them so perfectly fitting. He knew when he went shopping, which was hardly ever, he always took ages to select the right size. With a soft laugh and a shake of his head he pulled on a pair of socks and went down to the living room. She was lying across the couch, remote in one hand, phone in the other. She was talking to someone, he didn't know who, and rather than bustling in he stepped into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water then added ice from the freezer.

Without needing to check, he got her a refill of coffee and then walked back to the living room. She smiled and mouthed "Thank you" as he placed the coffee before her and started to move her legs aside to make room for him but he silently waved her off and sat on the floor in front of the couch. The TV had been muted so he sat there trying not to listen to her call. He thumbed his way through the TV guide as she talked.

"No, its fine, we're just waiting for Chinese food to arrive, which should be any minute…" she laughed at something the person on the other side said and threw her head back against the couch. "Okay, maybe tomorrow, I'll see. Okay, thanks, see ya."

She hung up the phone and tossed it onto the table. "That was Sookie. She wanted us to come round for dinner."

"Oh."

"But I told her we had Chinese food coming."0

"Ok."

"How are you feeling?"

"Ok."

"Great, now that the chatty part of the evening has concluded, let's get to the main feature!" she grabbed the remote and pressed play. Luke tried to concentrate on the credits but she kept talking. "So the clothes fit ok?"

"Yeah! Perfectly actually."

"And I trust everything was to your taste?" she asked, clearly fishing for information on the boxers or briefs debate she had had with herself that morning.

"Yeah, its fine. Thank you."

"Great. I'd hate to think I bought you something that you don't normally wear."

"No, its fine." He knew what she was doing but he was enjoying keeping her in the dark too much to let her off the hook.

Before she could dig for more information the doorbell rang. Luke made to get up to answer it but the pain in his back flared up forcing him back down.

"I'll get it, don't move." She jumped off the couch and collected the food from the delivery boy then deposited it onto the table beside him. She hurried into the kitchen to grab plates and a couple of beers then joined him on the floor. "So, tonight's movie-"

"Do you watch a movie every night?"

"Yeah." She replied quickly as if she anticipated the question. "Tonight we're watching an Alfred Hitchcock classic called Rope." He nodded as she spoke about the movie as if he understood the references she brought up and the anecdotes she used to sell the movie to him but he couldn't have cared if they sat there watching static of a broken TV channel. He just wanted to switch off. He took the plate of food she offered him, sipped his beer and just tried to relax.

She chatted idly throughout the movie and he didn't even have the energy to tell her to be quiet. He was sure she knew her talking was annoying him and it was as if she was trying to see how far she could push him but tonight, tonight she could push him forever and he wasn't going to fight. He didn't have it in him. When they ate all the food she cleared away the boxes, swatting his hands away to stop him from helping. Then when she returned she sat on the couch with her legs on the floor beside where he was sitting. As the closing credits came up on the screen Luke let out a sigh.

"It wasn't that bad was it?" she swatted his shoulder making him wince. "Oh sorry… you're neck still sore?"

"A bit."

"I have a muscle cream for that if you want it."

"Yeah, that'd be great." She went into the kitchen and rummaged through the first aid box until she found what she was looking for then hurried back to his side started to unscrew the cap. He held out her hand for the tube but she pulled it back out of his reach "Luke you can barely move your arms, how are you going to rub this across your shoulders?"

He acquiesced to her point and dropped his hands onto his lap. She pulled on the collar of his shirt but it wasn't enough.

"Take it off."

"Huh?"

"Take it off Luke, you've had that new shirt on for an hour, you really want to get this muscle cream all over it? You know you only have one other shirt."

"Okay, okay!" He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it down off his shoulders but left it around his back just below his shoulder blades.

"What are you some sort of puritan? Take it off Luke!" She squeezed out a dollop of the cream onto her fingers and rubbed her hands together until he pulled the shirt off and bundled it up on his lap. "Better."

She spread the cream across the top of his shoulders and rubbed it in in small circles with her thumbs. He lowered his chin to his chest to give her more access to the top of his shoulders and his neck. She repositioned herself on the couch behind him, folded her legs beneath herself and pushed him forward a little to reach lower on his back.

"How is that? Feel better?"

"Mmm Hmm."

He tried to think of her as a doctor or a nurse, her fingers merely probing his back in a medical fashion but that didn't help, all of a sudden he couldn't get the image of her in a nurse's uniform out of his mind. He shifted on the floor as her fingers gripped his shoulders tighter, her thumbs working magic on the knot of muscles that had spasmed there a few days ago.

"Wow Luke, you are ridiculously tight here. You must be in agony."

"It's not so bad."

"Yeah right." With one hand on his shoulder to hold him in place she let the other trail down the centre of his back to another knot at the bottom of his ribs. "What have you been sleeping on?"

"My bed!"

"Which I presume is a pile of rocks."

"I fell asleep in the armchair the other night."

"Oh, that'll do it. Can't fall asleep in an armchair and expect to brush it off the next morning any more, old man."

"Less of the old man."

She chuckled with him but his laugh soon turned into a cough. She stopped rubbing his back, leaned forward and put her legs down either side of him. She rested one hand on his shoulder and the other flat against his back as he rode out the coughing spasm that turned his face red. "It's ok, relax…" she said softly as she patted his back and helped regain his composure. Finally when his coughing stopped he leaned back into the couch and panted to catch his breath. Only then realising what position they were sitting, with him on the floor and her on the couch, her legs either side of him and he nestled back against her.

"Thanks." He said as she scrambled to his feet and stood before her.

"You ok?" She stood up with him. "Maybe you should go to the doctors again and get a cough bottle?"

"Yeah, maybe I will tomorrow. But right now…"

"Bed."

"Yeah, it's getting late." She slipped her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and rocked back and forth on her feet. He held his shirt in his hands in a crumpled mess.

"So, yeah, thanks. G'night." He all but turned and bolted up the stairs leaving her smiling wistfully in her living room. Luke stripped and fell into bed and before he could spend any time contemplating the evening he had just spent he fell asleep.

Lorelai cleared up their mess form the living room and washed the dishes in the sink. It was only the second night he had stayed here and already she was so comfortable with him around. He was an easy house guest. Quiet, undemanding and she couldn't help but admit that he made her feel safe. But there was something amiss. He wasn't like himself. He was almost sheepish around her. He avoided looking at her, his usual monosyllabic responses seemed more monosyllabic than normal. He wasn't getting angry with her, he wasn't bickering or fighting like he usually would. The dance of words they usually took part in was now a sombre waltz than the usual, almost sensual cha-cha-cha.

She knew he was going through a tough time. His diner meant everything to him. He was trying to put on a front and stay strong but not having his own place to go home to, his own space and a place to get away from prying questions and looks meant he was trapped in this façade of "everything being ok" when in reality she knew he must want to scream.

She thought about how she could make him feel better, but realised this was exactly why he was feeling trapped. He needed to work this out on his own without her watching him and she decided she would give him all the space he needed. She locked up, turned off the lights and went to bed.

* * *

**A/N:** Just in case its not wholly obvious, I have no idea about construction or repair to structures. Don't cringe at how I make Luke handle it :)


	4. Chapter 4

When Luke got up the next morning he dressed and went downstairs as quietly as he could. He stood in the empty kitchen and listened to the stillness of the house for a moment. He thought about sticking round until she got up, maybe cooking her some breakfast as a gesture of thanks but realising it was only five thirty in the morning and she might not be up for hours he grabbed a pad and pen from the table by the door and wrote a message on it then left it by the kettle and went to the diner to get to work.

Lorelai listened to him leave and waited until she could no longer hear his truck before getting up. She went upstairs and showered tried not to notice how he had made the bed, spread his new clothes out on the end of the bed and opened a window for fresh air. But she couldn't help it. She smiled at the sight of it all and went over to her chest of drawers. She emptied out the top shelf, spread her clothes among the other drawers then slipped his tee shirts and underwear in, then made room in her closet for the rest of his clothing.

She dressed herself and went down to the kitchen to make coffee only then spotting the note he had left for her.

"Lorelai, gone to the Diner. Luke." she snorted at the note. "Succinct." She stuck it to the fridge and sipped her coffee even as she finished getting ready for work then left the cup in the sink and left.

Luke was brushing work rubble out of the diner into a wheelbarrow on the street when he spotted Lorelai's jeep coming down the street. He straightened up, pulled off his work gloves and approached the jeep as she pulled up but instead of Lorelai getting out, it was Sookie.

"Luke!" she yelled and she came running over and grasped him in a bear hug, trapping his arms by his sides. "I'm so so sorry!"

"Thanks Sookie."

"It's just awful!"

"Yeah."

"I can't imagine what you must be going through."

"Yeah, thanks."

She held him for a moment longer then slowly released him but held onto him at arm's length as she looked at the shell of all that remained of the diner. "Oh, it's just plain awful."

"It's not so bad, the structure is good, it's mainly cosmetic."

"I brought food."

She hurried back to the jeep and opened the back door then pulled out a tray of sandwiches and left it on the bonnet. "Come and get it!" she yelled out and slowly the contractors came filing out of the diner to surround the food. Sookie took some aside and brought it over to Luke.

"She told you to yell that out didn't she." He said when she passed him a sandwich. Sookie smiled and nodded her head.

"How are you holding up?" she asked after he took a bite of his lunch.

"I'm ok, it's going well. We cleared out a lot of the damaged materials so by tomorrow I should be able to start putting in the new stuff."

"And you are staying at Lorelai's house?"

"Yeah." He glanced at her sideways and awaited for her to push him for more but she was just smiling at him and said nothing more. "What? It's not like that. She is just helping me out."

Sookie nodded again but her smile got wider.

"Sookie. Don't."

"So listen, I want to invite you around to mine for dinner tonight."

"No, no you don't have to."

"Luke, I've already told Jackson, he is going to BBQ. He already bought enough meat to feed a small army."

Luke sighed. "Ok, ok. That sounds great."

"How does about 8 sound?"

"Great."

"Good. See you then." She went back to the jeep and shooed all the workers away, handed out the last of the sandwiches then tossed the tray into the trunk again and drove off. Luke watched her leave and wondered if Lorelai had put her up to it. He finished his sandwich and returned to work.

When Sookie returned to the Inn she came in through the back entrance, directly to the kitchen and found Lorelai leaning against the counter sipping coffee.

"How was it out there?"

"It was fine. They have it nearly cleared out. Luke said they will start putting the new stuff in in tomorrow."

"Wow that's happening fast."

"I guess when it's your only place of business and your home, speed is in your best interest." Lorelai nodded solely and sipped her coffee again. When Sookie spoke again she didn't hear and asked her to repeat it. "I said I convinced him to come round to the house for a BBQ tonight. And you have to come too."

"Oh Sookie, no!"

"What! He has lost everything Lorelai! I just want to help make him feel better."

"By feeding him meat."

"Yes!" Sookie clapped her hands. "I know he isn't a fan of red meat so I have this chicken marinating in a Louisiana sauce that will go perfectly with sea salt and lime potato wedges."

"Sookie it sounds amazing, but I was planning on giving Luke some space to process things tonight. I was going to go see a movie in town, get home late and go straight to bed so he has some time to not be working, not be with people and just process everything that's happened in the last few days."

"Process?" She waved her hands at her friend. "He can process when he is finished dinner. Please Lorelai, let me do this!"

"Okay. Okay but it can't be a late night."

"Fine, fine."

"What time?" She put her now empty cup into the dishwasher.

"Eight."

Luke was sitting in her kitchen when she got home. He had clearly showered and changed and was wearing a different shirt from the one he was wearing the night before, which made her smile. She wasn't sure why, it just did. He was scribbling a note on a pad when she walked in.

"Oh hey, you're back."

"Yeah, crazy day at work."

"I was just leaving you a note."

"Oh?"

"Sookie came by the diner today."

"Oh right, the BBQ, yeah she wrangled me into it too."

"Oh, it wasn't your idea?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"No, no I thought you'd prefer to maybe sit on the porch with a beer than go back out again tonight."

She was moving around the kitchen, peeling off her coat and jacket, her scarf and shoes as she spoke then made her way to the coffee pot to pour a cup for herself.

"That does sound tonnes better."

"You don't have to go Luke. Stay here. Relax." She went into Rory's room and he could hear her rustling behind the open door as she undressed. When she emerged she was wearing a pair of jeans and a red tee with a picture of a record player on the centre of it. It looked a little too small for her, stretched across her chest and rising just a little over the rim of her jeans as she moved but he guessed that was intended. "I'm going to call round, gobble up whatever free food is on offer, and then I might take in a movie. So you'll have the place to yourself."

"No, its fine. I'll go."

"Are you sure?" She sat at the table across from him and put on her slip on sneakers then grabbed a cardigan from the hooks behind the door. "Let's walk, it's lovely out tonight."

Luke nodded. He didn't have a coat with him so he just followed her out into the balmy evening and they strolled down the street towards Sookie's house.

Sookie pulled the door open before they had a chance to knock and ushered them in. Luke stepped aside and let her in first and they followed Sookie out to the back yard where they had a garden table set up with snacks. She urged them both to sit down then hurried inside and came out with a cold beer for Luke and a glass of white wine for Lorelai.

"Aww no fair, he gets beer!" she said as she took the wine and sniffed it with a look of disdain.

"This wine is a light fruity blend of citrus and apple that will just go perfectly with the chicken tonight."

"Oh! Fine then!" She smirked at Luke and stuck her tongue out at him before sipping her wine and settling back into her chair.

Jackson had the food almost ready when they arrived and only ten minutes later he had served it up and they were eating. Sookie was under strict instructions not to ask Luke about the diner, the renovations and where he was staying which didn't leave too much topics on the table for discussion. They talked about the Inn about the funny and difficult guests they had that week, about cooking disasters and Michel's antics. Luke knew what they were doing and even though he felt a little left out, not knowing anything about what they were talking about, he was just happy to be left to his own devices.

He finished his dinner, had another beer and sat back to take it all in. Lorelai glanced over at him and smiled before turning her attention back to Sookie who was talking about a fight she had with a meat delivery guy that morning. Jackson was already up and cleaning the BBQ off so Luke stood to offer help. He was ushered away and handed another beer and he couldn't protest anymore so he let them boss him around. When a lull fell over the conversation, Sookie nodded her head towards Luke and Lorelai shrugged. She moved her head back towards the kitchen and Lorelai shrugged again. Jackson who was oblivious to all the ministrations cleared the table around them and Luke just stared at the sky with a faraway look in his eyes.

"So…yeah…we should go." Lorelai spoke loudly enough to get his attention but he didn't notice until she stood up and grabbed her cardigan off the back of her chair.

"Oh, we're going?" He stood up with her. "Thanks for dinner Sookie. It was amazing."

"Any time!" she said as she walked them towards the front door. "Safe home!" she called out after them as they walked down her drive, if only for want of something else to say.

They walked back towards town in silence. He had his hands in his pockets and his pace was slower than his usual speed. She folded her arms across her chest and matched his speed.

"I promised myself I wouldn't ask you this anymore but…" she nudged him with her elbow making him look at her. "Are you doing ok?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"Luke."

"What, I'm fine."

They walked on further and she realised they were going to pass his diner. They had inadvertently taken a different route home that would take them through the square. She wondered if they should veer off in a different direction but he seemed fixed on walking right up to the diner.

"It looks so desolate at night." He muttered his words but she caught them and didn't ask him to repeat them. He walked up to the door and took a few steps in. She waited on the street for him and gave him the space she promised she would. He walked through the rubble, kicked some of it aside and looked around at the charred remains of his life. When she spotted his shoulders slump she decided to break her own promise and stepped inside. She stood beside him, linked one of her arms around one of his and hugged his close.

"You've managed to get quite a lot of work done."

"A lot more to do."

"How much can you keep? I see the till is gone. Did you manage to save it?"

"I dunno, it was burned pretty bad."

"It was an antique though, they built those old tills strong." She spoke as if she was an authority on antique tills and squeezed his arm as she spoke to reassure him.

"Yeah, maybe." His voice was low and distracted. "C'mon, let's get out of here." He turned to walk out and she followed suit, still holding onto his arm. They walked down the street for a block before she noticed she was still clinging onto him and with a smile she released him. He shrugged and took his hands out of his pockets and walked a half step ahead of her, providing her with the chance to watch him covertly as they walked. With every stride his right hand swayed back and her left hand strayed forward and more often than not, their fingers collided. He would apologise, her too then they would try to walk on but inadvertently it would happen again.

After three or four collisions, she rolled her eyes and when their hands bumped again she grasped his fingers with her own. She held onto two of his fingers in the clasp of her hand and kept walking. He looked down at their joined hands for a moment then turned his wrist and took her hand completely in his. He moved his fingers and interlocked them with her own and gripped her tighter, all without saying a word.

When they walked up her drive he only let go of her hand so she could open the door without a struggle. She peeled off her cardigan and hung it up on the wall by the door. They walked into the living room and he stood by the bottom of the stairs.

"So, I'm going to crash." She said and she threw her thumb over her shoulder towards Rory's room.

"You're going to bed?" He glanced at his watch to see it was only ten minutes to ten. "It's so early. Isn't there a movie you wanted to watch?"

"A movie?"

"You know, series of moving pictures, some with music, some with dialogue, and some even with both."

She smiled. "Yeah there are a tonne of movies on my to-watch list. But not tonight, you stay up, watch what you like."

He moved over to the couch and sat down as she spoke. He picked up her remote and stared at it, took a few attempts at turning the TV on but was unsuccessful It was painful for her to watch and he knew it. She sighed and came over to sit next to him. "No, you're doing it all wrong. Look, this button is for power, this one for volume and this one for channels. Movie channels start at 601 and go on to 720, everything else is trash TV."

She reached over to the coffee table and grabbed another remote. "This magical machine is for the video player…you need to first put a tape into that black box beneath the TV…"

"Just pick a movie and watch it with me. It would be a lot easier than me trying to learn all this…trickery!"

She looked at him and smiled. He was watching her with a plan expression on his face, giving away nothing.

"Don't you want to…" her voice trailed off.

"What?" he urged her to continue.

"Don't you want to crash, on your own, take some time to process everything that's happening. Away from everyone."

"You?"

"Everyone."

"No. I don't. I want to sit here. Watch a movie. With you." He smiled at her and for the first time since all this happened she thought it was a genuine smile. She returned the smile and nodded then got off the couch and crouched in front of the TV where her movies were stacked.

"So, what are you in the mood for? How about the Towering Inferno? Backdraft? St Elmo's fire?"

"Lorelai." He warned her.

"What? Too soon?" She picked a movie and put it in then pressed play and raced into the kitchen. She returned with a couple of beers and a bag of crisps.

"You can't be hungry after that feed at Sookie's."

"No, I'm stuffed." She kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet under herself.

"What are the chips for then?"

"I said I wasn't hungry, but I'm not dead!" She cast him a disparaging glance as she settled in and opened the chips. She offered him some but he refused. She sipped her beer and ate her chips and waited for the credits to start rolling.

"What are we watching?"

"Shhh! It's starting."

"What is it?"

"Shhh!" she nudged him in the ribs.

"What! You talk through every movie, you won't take 5 seconds to tell me what this movie is called? Or what it's about?"

"It's Poltergeist. 1982 staring JoBeth Williams who is AMAZING looking in this movie! Makes me mad with jealousy every time I watch this."

"Why?"

"Because wait till you see her. She has legs that come up to here," she moved her hand to her neck to gesture the point where she thought her legs stopped. "Her hair is fabulous and she is oozing with sensuality throughout the entire movie. I mean her house is haunted, her kids are being terrorised by some random demons in another dimension and she is just sitting there oozing sexiness for every second of the flick."

She was talking animatedly, moved around the seat as she spoke, gesturing her arms widely and rubbing her hands over her body to emphasise her words making Luke laugh.

"Shhh, this is a horror movie! You aren't supposed to laugh."

"I wasn't laughing at the movie."

"So you were laughing at me?" She looked over at him with a mock look of horror on her face and he smiled.

"I wasn't laughing at you either." He nudged her with his shoulder and the music from the opening credits saved him from her glare for much longer.

This time as they watched it was he who watched her. He watched her laugh and squirm, jump at the scary moments and hide behind a pillow for most of the third act. She mimicked words, commented on every time she thought JoBeth looked good and nudged him until he agreed. And he enjoyed every minute of it.

He had seen this movie before. He had brought dates to this movie. It was the perfect date movie. Fun, scary and staring an actress that, as Lorelai had quite correctly put it, oozed sensuality in every scene and he wasn't sure why but it made all the women he brought to see this movie want to do the same. All the women, he chuckled, both of them.

She glanced over at him to see what he was laughing at. "Shhh! This is a very important part!"

"Sorry," he mouthed and nodded back to the movie and sipped his beer.

They watched the rest without interruption and as the ending credits rolled, she turned off the tape and the TV.

"Phew… that was a rollercoaster!" She tossed the pillow she was holding in her lap aside and took a few deep breaths.

"Good movie." He said as he finished his beer and put his bottle on the table in front of them then sat back into the couch.

"Good? It's a great movie! Man… that JoBeth Williams."

"I know, she is pretty amazing!"

"Get in line buddy, I saw her first."

"Yeah but I think I might have a better chance with her than you."

"Oh really?" She arched her eyebrows ad half turned to face him.

"Don't get me wrong, you're amazing and all, but I think if JoBeth Williams walked in here right now, she'd pick me."

"Oh you are so cocky!"

She swatted his chest but it only made him smile wider. They sat in silence for a moment, each of them looking everywhere but at each other. Eventually she stood up. She collected the empty beer bottles and the bag from the chips and carried them into the kitchen. He heard her pottering around in the kitchen and took a moment to get up, and stretch out his muscles. When she came back in he was standing at the bottom of the stairs, one hand on the bannister, and one foot on the bottom step.

"Off to bed?"

"Yeah. Early start tomorrow."

"Okay, well sleep well Luke." She turned to walk away from him but he called out to her.

"Lorelai…" she turned on her heel to face him and smiled, her hands deep in the pockets of her jeans. "I think I'm going to kiss you."

"Um…huh?" she looked at him for a moment. One hand strayed up to her neck as she spoke. "Um, When do you think you'll know?"

He smiled took in the sight of her. The shocked look on her face, her tee shirt stretching across her chest and rising high enough to show off the pale skin of her stomach. In her stockinged feet she seemed smaller than usual and he thought about walking over to her now and kissing her, pushing her up against the wall and pressing his body against hers but something was stopping him.

And he knew what it was. He couldn't start kissing her while he was crashing in her bedroom. He wanted to wait until he was out from under her roof so nothing could be construed as expected. He closed his eyes over as if to make sure the image of her standing there would not disappear and then he smiled, shrugged and walked up the stairs leaving her in a shocked haze in his wake.

Lorelai watched him ascend the stairs, and heard the bedroom door close and still she couldn't move. She had to physically hold onto the wall and practically pull herself through the house into Rory's room. She collapsed on the bed and his words swam around her keeping her from sleep. Luke on the other hand undressed and climbed into bed and fell in to a heavy sleep with a self-satisfied sigh.


	5. Chapter 5

At the diner the next day Luke worked harder, pushed the contractors more and got all the rubble cleared out so they could begin replacing it with new material. He had ordered a new counter which was arriving later that day. The shelving had already been replaced around the walls of the diner and the kitchen which was highest priority was being tiled. Upstairs in his apartment he had gotten rid of all the furniture, and worked with another team of contractors to replace all damaged fixtures and fittings. He had collected all the pictures from the walls and had taken them to be treated and cleaned. He paid enough to get the frames cleaned and repaired too rather than destroyed. And by the end of the day it all started to look like a place he could actually live in again.

By the time the contractors finished up for the day, Luke was fit to collapse. Sookie had called around with lunch again that day and he knew by the smile and the twinkle in her eye that Lorelai had told her everything about what he had said the night before but he didn't care. In fact he felt like it had given him a bit of power. She hadn't reacted with disgust, she hadn't laughed at him or even made a joke. She was shocked, no doubt she was shocked but shock he could deal with. The others maybe not so much.

He packed up his tools and climbed into his truck. He drove back to her house slowly, savouring the moments before he would walk in because now he had said what he said, everything was a game of when. It always had been a game of when, not if, always when, but they were playing that game separately, this time they were playing it together.

He left his tools in the back of the truck and walked into the house, calling out a greeting so he knew she was there lest she was dancing around the kitchen naked. He chuckled at the thought as he toed off his boots and left them outside then closed the door behind him and she called out to him from the kitchen.

"In here."

He walked in and smiled at her, leaned against the wall as she washed her hands at the sink. She was wearing a pale blue dress with spaghetti straps over her shoulders and across her back. It dipped low in the front and came to above her knees. She had on a pair of heels and a dark blue shawl draped over one arm.

"Sorry to leave you alone like this but I have a function to go to in Yale with Rory."

"Yeah, that's fine."

"I totally forgot, I should have mentioned it to you."

"No forget it, go, have a great time."

"You'll be ok here on your own?"

Before he could answer, the doorbell rang and Lorelai froze. Luke stepped back to answer the door but she called out to him to stop.

"Its fine, I'll get it." She hurried past him, leaving a trail of soft perfume in her wake. She opened the door and Luke heard Chris greeting her with a smile. He stayed in the kitchen, and made himself busy by making some tea. He could barely hear them talking by the door and was sure Chris was trying to come in, but Lorelai was bustling him out. No doubt Chris had spied his truck in the drive, and his boots by the door and had some obvious questions. Luke couldn't help but smile smugly.

When the door closed he carried his tea into the living room and without realising it he made his way to the window. He moved the curtain aside and watched as they stood at the car arguing. Lorelai waved her arms at him in exasperation while Chris pointed at the house and asked her a question that Luke didn't need to hear to know what it was.

Feeling bad for spying he moved the curtain back into place and went over to the couch. He rested back into the couch then let his head fall back and closed his eyes. Seconds later he could hear the keys in the door at the same time as a car drove off. He sat up and turned to see Lorelai dropping her bag by the door and he stood up to greet her.

"What happened?"

"Oh it's just Chris being an ass!"

"What? Did he get mad because I'm here?"

"It's none of his business!" she yelled at nothing in particular. She grabbed the phone off the cradle and dialled a number. "Hi, tony, I need a cab…right now. Yeah…I need to get to New Haven."

"Lorelai, no you can't take a cab! That will cost a fortune!"

"Shhh, I'm on the phone!" She turned her body half away from him to speak on the phone. "How soon? Twenty minutes? Tony I need to be there in forty. Ok… as quick as you can then." She turned off the phone and replaced it on the cradle then walked into the kitchen to make a coffee. He followed her and turned her when she switched on the pot.

"You can't take a cab out there. What's wrong with your jeep?"

"I might have gotten a flat tire on the way home from work today."

"I can change that for you in ten minutes."

"I might not have a spare."

"You've been driving around that wreck without a spare tire?" She shot him a look of despair. "Sorry, here, take my truck." He passed her the keys to his truck. But she didn't take them.

"No Luke I couldn't."

"Please, take it." He grabbed her hands and pressed the keys into them. "It's the least I can do after everything you've done for me."

"You don't mind?"

"God no, take it, go. Go to Rory and have a great time."

She smiled through her anger and without thinking about it, engulfed him in a tight hug. She released him as quick as she grabbed him and flew out the door without another word.

Luke watched her leave from the living room window then went out to her jeep to take a look at the damage. Her rear driver's wheel was completely flat. He checked the spare and found it to be just as flat. Shaking his head he pulled the spare out of the trunk and started to roll it down the drive and towards Gypsy's garage.

By the time he got the spare fixed and Gypsy gave him a lift back to the house he was wrecked. His back ached and his head was thumping from a lack of food but he wanted to get this fixed before sitting for the night, knowing full well that as soon as he sat down for the evening he would not be able to move again. He put on her spare then drove to Gypsy's to get the other tire fixed. On his way home he picked up some takeout then collapsed in the kitchen with his soup and sandwiches.

He cleaned up after himself then went upstairs for a shower. He dried himself off and climbed into bed, enjoying the stillness of the darkness around him. He dozed off and only woke at the sound of his truck pulling up into her drive. She came into the house trying not to make any noise but of course, sods law dictated that when she tried to be quiet, she hit every single creaky board there was. He heard her move into the kitchen, heard her fill the coffee pot and decided to go down and see how she was.

He pulled on a pair of boxers and a grey long sleeve and went down to the kitchen where he found her sitting at the table with her head in her hands. As he was barefoot she didn't hear him coming and jumped a mile when he rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry, you didn't hear me say your name?"

"No, you scared me. Did I wake you?"

"No, I was up. Everything ok?" He pulled out the seat next to her and sat down, leaned forward with his arms on the table and looked at her worryingly. Her eyes were brimming with tears and from the looks of it they were not the first tears she had shed that night.

"Nothing, its fine." She stood up and turned her back to him, busied herself by grabbing her cup and getting the milk out of the fridge.

"Really?"

"Yeah, yeah, its fine."

"I'm sorry, it's none of my business, I'll leave you alone."

He stood up to walk away but she instantly felt bad and stopped him. "Sorry, I've just had a horrible night, being tag teamed by Chris and Emily." She emphasised their names with grit.

"Want to tell me about it? Or…is it me they were tag teaming you about?"

"Very astute Mr Danes." Luke had no response for that confirmation so he said nothing. "It's none of their businesses. And what the hell do they know anyway." She poured out her coffee in to the large mug and carried it back to the table and urged him to sit back down with her. "Oh what the neighbours will think, oh what will it look like if you are shacking up with this man, oh you barely know this guy!"

"Ah, I see." Luke grimaced and sat back into the chair and fiddled with the napkins on the table.

"What was I supposed to do! Let you sleep in a burned out shell of your home? In your truck maybe?"

"Its fine, look the diner is almost ready, I should have the apartment habitable by tomorrow night anyway."

"No Luke, that's not what I want."

"It's fine. The last thing I want to be is another root of contention between you and your family."

"Pffft!" She sneered. "If it's not you then it would have been something else, my shoes, my hair, my dress. Hell you should have heard the comments when I turned up in your truck." She chuckled and he smiled with her.

"I can imagine."

"You weren't a catalyst in all this. Its just my mother being small minded and judgemental. And Chris being a jealous ass." She patted his arm and he smiled again, happy to see she had calmed down and her tears had subsided. "You are welcome to stay here for as long as you like, me casa et su casa."

"Thanks. But it won't be for much longer. I promise."

"No rush, really Luke, don't move back to that diner until you know for sure it's ready." He nodded under her scrutiny and looked away, focused back on the napkins on the table. She stood up and washed the remains of her coffee down the drain then turned to face him. "So…"

"I fixed your car," he blurted out.

"What?"

"Both tires. You need to fix the flat when you replace the spare, that's how these things work. They are both fine now, but you need to promise me when you next get a flat you'll fix it and not end up stranded on some dark road between here and Yale."

"I promise. Thanks!" She walked behind him and patted his shoulder as she went towards Rory's room where she would be sleeping. "I'm wrecked and I'm going to crash. G'night."

"Good night Lorelai." He said without looking at her.

"Oh and Luke?" She was standing in the bedroom now, her face just visible behind the half closed door.

"Hmmm?" he answered, still without looking.

"Nice boxers." She closed the door and he smiled.

* * *

More determined now than ever to get his apartment liveable again as quick as possible Luke was up and dressed and out of her place by 5am the next morning. He had little or no sleep and was running on pure adrenaline and his ability to see the finish line. By the time the contractors arrived to help get the new counter fitted he had the place scrubbed and brushed and ready. The new linoleum was put down and by lunch he had a new stove and fridge and was waiting for the final touches to arrive for a fully functioning kitchen.

This time it was Lorelai who arrived with lunch and he greeted her on the sidewalk when she got out of the car.

"Hey," she smiled at him and passed a brown bagged lunch to him, keeping one for herself as the rest of the crew gathered round the food and helped themselves. "I thought I might stay for lunch today."

"Great!" He looked around for a place for them to sit but there was nowhere. "How about over in the square?"

"Sure." She checked the road for traffic then hurried over to a free bench in the square. She dug into her lunch bag and pulled out a spicy chicken wrap and proceeded to pull out the peppers and bits of lettuce.

"Careful, you might end up eating something that's good for you," he sneered as he bit into his own lunch.

"I know, I don't know what Sookie was thinking when she packed these."

"How are things going at the Inn?"

"Pretty good. Getting a good boost of customers from the fishing competition out in Galliard Lake."

"Oh that's this week?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I was planning on going out to that. But things got a little crazy here and I totally forgot."

"How is it going over there?"

"Pretty good. Got a new counter in, should have a working kitchen by tonight. Glaziers are arriving at 5 to replace the front windows and I'll have a lockable door by then too." He seemed genuinely pleased with himself as he told her about all the work that had been done.

"C'mon," he said as he finished his last bite and crumpled up his lunch bag. "Let me give you a tour."

They tossed their rubbish into the bins and he led her back to the diner. She ooh'd and ahh'd in all the right places as he pointed out the work that had been done. Then he led her up to his place and showed her what had happened there too. The room he had originally converted from an admin office his dad used to run the hardware store into his apartment was an empty shell. All the furniture was gone, the walls were bare plaster the bathroom was freshly tiled with a new floor and his wardrobe was replaced with a new, but empty one.

"This looks great Luke. You got so much done."

"Yeah, I have all this too…" he pulled a large metal box out from under the sink and rested it on the floor then crouched down to open it. She crouched beside him and watched as he pulled out all the old pictures that normally hung on the walls. She looked through them with him but then spotted at the bottom of the box, the sidewall from the counter downstairs where his father had written the order.

"What are you going to do with that?"

"I dunno." He took it out and blew some of the soot off it then twirled it in his hands and handed it to her. She took it gingerly knowing the wood was fragile and the paint and memory on it even more so. "What do you think?"

"I think you should put it back exactly where you found it. It's too important to be hidden away up here.

He looked at her and smiled, delighted that she understood.

"So when does the furniture arrive?" She placed everything she was holding back into the box on the floor and stood up to walk around.

"Huh?"

"You know, table, chair, bed. The essentials."

"Oh, yeah, em, I dunno, I haven't bought any yet. I just focused on getting the diner ready."

"Luke you need to look after yourself as well or there will be no one to look after the diner. Then where will I be?"

"Where will you be?"

"At Westins Luke, at Westins, drinking coffee with Mrs Doyle and eating burgers from Al's World of Pancakes!"

"Alright!" he held up his hand in surrender. "I was planning on going shopping for a bed tomorrow. Then I'll get a table and chairs and the rest will come as I need it."

"Good. I don't want to see you near this place tomorrow unless you are carrying in furniture."

"Aye aye capt." He saluted her when he back was turned.

"I saw that." Luke smiled and she turned to face him and smiled too. "Okay, I better get back."

"Oh hey, Lorelai," he caught up with her at the door to his apartment. "Tomorrow night, I'm going to cook dinner for you."

"You don't need to do that."

"I do. Of course I do."

"Okay, that sounds great."

They walked down the stairs and back out to her car again. "You're still stuck with me for one more night though."

"I'll suffer through."

He waved her off and watched her until she was out of sight. Then got back to work. With the windows in and a door he could lock, Luke started to feel like all was not lost. Sure he had lost a lot of precious memories, but overall he was lucky he had something to work with, something he could build on. The kitchen was fully equipped, the flooring and woodwork was ready. The counter was in place and the tables and chairs would be arriving first thing the next day. He stood at the door and looked around at his new diner and smiled. It wasn't what he had, but it was still his.

He locked up and ran a few errands then went back to Lorelai's. He found her sitting in the living room talking on the phone to Rory. She waved and smiled as he walked in but rather than interrupt or eavesdrop he went straight up stairs to shower and change. When he later emerged she was off the phone, lying on the couch reading a magazine.

"How is Rory?"

"She's fine." She scooted up on the couch to make room for him at the other end and he sat down. He stretched one arm along the back of the couch and half turned to face her. "She is still upset about what happened last night?"

"Oh, she knows I'm staying here right?"

"Yeah, of course, I told her as soon as I invited you!"

"Ok, good." Then he added. "And she doesn't mind?"

"No! Of course not."

"Ok, good."

"It's just last night was special for her. It was her first debate with the Yale society and when it was over she found myself, my mother and Chris fighting at the back of the hall instead of paying her the attention her night deserved."

"Right."

"I just felt so bad for her." She sighed and tried to push the tension from the night before away. "But it's over now, I've spoken with her and Chris has, she's fine, she is just a worrier."

"Yeah, she always was."

"She was more worried about me being upset than I was about her."

"Sounds like Rory alright."

"Anyway, how is the diner looking?"

"Oh you should see it. It's got windows and doors and everything now"

"Wow!" She chuckled along with him. "Sound like a really real place that will soon be serving."

"I reckon I can have it up and running in about three days."

"Really? So soon?"

"Yeah, Kitchen is finished. Furniture will arrive first thing. Food and stock deliveries tomorrow evening and I'll be painting then the day after that, ready to open the following day."

"Wow that's brilliant. Well done. You did an amazing job."

"Wait till you see it before you say that."

"Oh stop, I'm sure its fine."

They shared a smile, but it was he who broke it by looking away.

"So, I dunno if you have plans tonight but…"

"Plans? Me? Yeah I'm expecting price charming at the door any minute."

"Well I didn't want to presume."

"Sounds like you have something in mind."

Luke nodded. He got up off the couch and went over to the front door where he had left the packages when he came in. When he returned he put the bags on the floor by his feet and made a show of digging deep into them for what he was looking for. She loved this game already.

The first thing he pulled out was a packet of popcorn.

"Oh I like where this is going."

He followed that with a pint of cookies and cream ice cream.

"Getting better all the time."

And finally he pulled out a video cassette.

"Oh Luke!" she squealed in delight. "Did you rent a movie?!"

"Yeah. But not just any movie. My favourite movie."

"Wait stop…" she put a hand on his arm to stop him from getting up to put in the video. "You have a favourite movie?"

"Yeah, I don't live in a cave!"

"You don't even own a TV!"

"I don't need a TV To see a movie!"

"You are never at the screenings at the book shop!"

"Do you want to watch this movie or not!"

"Of course I do!" She yelled, then as he put the tape into the VCR she raced out to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of spoons. "Don't you dare start it without me, I want to see everything!" She grabbed a couple of beers and hurried back to him but this time instead of stretching out on the couch she sat crossed legged in the centre and patted the cushion beside her, then passed him a spoon when he sat down.

"Don't we need bowls?"

"God no, then we'd have to wash them. Here, just share the pot." She opened the popcorn and put it on the floor between them then grabbed a cushion and held it on her lap. Her excitement was palpable and all the more obvious by her inability to sit still.

"Ready?"

"So ready!"

He pressed play and sat back into the couch. She leaned forward as if it would help her guess the movie quicker. He opened the ice cream and started to eat then as soon as the opening sequence started she squealed in delight and slapped his thigh a couple of times.

"Oh my god! I knew it!"

"What?" he was laughing at her reaction. "I knew this was going to be your favourite movie."

"How?"

"It just makes sense. And you, you are Quint right?"

"What?" he was laughing more now. "No!"

"Okay, if not Quint then you are the shark."

Luke let his head fall back and laughed loudly and she delighted in the sound of it. It was a rare sound that he didn't often make so she revelled in it while she had the chance. She turned under the pretence that she was reaching for the ice cream but she really just wanted to see him laughing. As the movie played she found herself sitting back into the couch next to him, her shoulder snuggled under his arm, his arm around the back of the couch almost around her, almost holding her close, but not quite. She jumped and screamed, laughed and gasped in all the right places and Luke knew he wasn't ever going to be able to watch this movie again without thinking of this very evening.

Without realising it she rested her head back on his arm and soon rolled it over so it was on his shoulder. He wanted to rest his head on hers but he restrained himself. Knowing his own rules, knowing he had only one more night to keep them before he could relax and make his move he satisfied himself with her touch alone.

As the ending credits started to roll he felt her take a deep breath and let it out slowly. They had finished the ice cream, or rather she had, and he had only managed to secure a few bites.

"That, was amazing. What a movie." She said without moving.

"Yeah."

"I can see why it's one of your favourites." She moved her head to look at him, all too aware of how close it would put their faces but she didn't care.

He looked down at her and before he could stop himself his hand came up to caress her cheek. He ran the back of his fingers down the side of her face, and under her chin. The pad of his thumb brushed across her lips and his arm that was on the back of the couch held her tighter as her lips parted and her tongue appeared. Luke looked down at her lips and imagined what it would be like to kiss her right then.

The salt from the popcorn, the sweet taste of the ice cream, it would be amazing. He just knew it would be. But he also knew he couldn't not while he was staying here. Then as if she recognised his hesitation she moved towards him. Her face came closer and he realised she was going to kiss him so he moved away.

"No, wait…" he leaned forward on the couch, covered his face and took a deep breath.

"Luke?"

"I'm sorry Lorelai, but this isn't right. Not like this."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I can't kiss you like this while I'm staying here. It's not right."

He stood up and hiked up his jeans in that familiar fashion then gathered up the trash and carried it out to the kitchen. She thought of letting him get away but then decided against it.

"Luke, wait…" he was separating her trash into recyclables when she found him in the kitchen. She put a hand on his back and urged him to face her.

"Trust me Lorelai, please, just trust me on this."

"On what? You want to kiss me, I know you do!"

"I do, god I do."

"So-"

"So I want to kiss you," he stepped forward, grabbed her upper arms and pushed her back until she was pressed against the fridge. "I want to kiss you right now, in a way that will make you forget everything that's happening, that leaky faucet, that strange humming from your fridge, the dog that's barking incessantly outside, the bills waiting for you on your porch and the customers waiting for you at the Inn." As he spoke he leaned in closer to her all but pressing his body against hers. His face moved mere millimetres away from hers, she could feel his breath, his words and it was driving her crazy. "But not yet."

He held her in place for a moment more then released her and backed away. He was trying not to show how fast his heart was beating and how hard it was for him to catch his breath but he didn't really care if she could tell. He could see the same effects in her.

"I'm leaving early in the morning to go to Woodbury. I should be back at the diner by 5 or 6 so if you want to call around for dinner tomorrow make it at about 7."

Lorelai nodded. He watched her for a moment more then turned and walked out of the room leaving her stood stock still in her own kitchen wondering what exactly had just transpired.


	6. Chapter 6

Luke spent the day in Woodbury picking out furniture though his mind was only half on the job. He couldn't get the image or the feeling of her out of his skin. He picked out a bed then a table and 4 chairs. Bought some linen and other household necessities then packed his truck and made his way back to stars hollow. The shop furniture had arrived and was stacked inside the door and he spent the afternoon arranging both that and his own apartment.

At three o clock he went back to Lorelai's house and picked up his belongings then purchased groceries and went home. He showered and changed and started making dinner all the while watching the clock for her arrival. He had left the door to the diner open, hoping he would hear the bells downstairs to give him a final warning. And it worked.

His heart all but exploded at the sound of her approaching his apartment door. She knocked lightly and he hurried over to let her in as he pulled off the striped navy and white apron from around his waist.

"Come in," he pulled the door open and was delighted to see her in something other than her office attire. She was wearing a crimson red blouse over a black flowing skirt that swished around her with every step she took.

"Thanks." She stepped in and marvelled at how different the place looked from the night before. "This looks amazing Luke!" there was a large oak table with 4 chairs around it in the kitchen area. He had put a large double bed over in its usual place and it was currently made up with dark blue sheets and pillows and a deep red duvet cover. A three seater couch was against the far wall with a lamp shade beside it and he had even managed to hang up a few of the photos he had kept in the metal box.

"Thanks, it's not finished yet, I still need to paint it but, it's liveable."

"Here I got you this." She handed him a bag with colourful paper sticking out of the top of it.

"What's this?"

"House warming gift…no joke intended!" she added when he looked up to see if she was joking.

He pulled the paper out of the bag and dropped it onto the floor as he hurried to get to the bottom of the bag and laughed aloud when he saw what was lying there.

"I noticed your other hats were lost in the great fire of oh-two!"

"Thanks."

"Let me," she said as she reached into the bag and pulled out a grey-blue baseball cap with a red B on the front for the red sox. She changed the fastener on it then flipped it round and put it on his head backwards. He dropped the bag he was holding and used both hands to settle it then looked at her for an evaluation.

"Perfect."

"Thanks, I love it. But you shouldn't have. I wanted to treat you tonight."

"Oh stop, it's a house warming gift. I'm allowed." He shrugged and went back to the stove to tend to the food. "It smells delicious. What are you cooking?" She picked up the wrapping and the bag and put it aside as she sat at the table.

"Well I thought about a lovely baked salmon dish with lime and green bean parcels, but then I remembered who I was cooking for and how that healthy stuff might be poison for you, so instead…" He turned to face her holding up a plate and placed it down in front of her. "I made something I knew you'd love. Something I figured you were probably craving since the diner shut down."

"Oh you made me a cheeseburger!" she clapped her hands in delight. Unsure of what he was going to serve she was afraid he would try to feed her some organic fare she was delighted to see her staple favourite on the place in front of her.

"And fries." He put a dish of homemade hand cut fries in the centre of the table then sat next to her and smiled.

"This. Is. Amazing." She dropped her handbag by her feet and without preamble she tucked in. They talked amicably about the furniture in the room, what additions he thought he would add and what colours he might paint it. She suggested yellows and pinks, peaches and greens and he balked at every suggestion. He countered with browns and blues and she waved off his every notion. When they finished eating he cleared their plates then went to the fridge.

"Oh… we get dessert too?"

"Chocolate soufflé with rum sauce." He put the soufflé into the centre of the table and handed her an empty bowl. "Want some?"

"Want all!"

He gave her a generous helping then passed the small jug of rum sauce over as he dished out his own mediocre serving.

"Wow Luke, this is amazing."

"Thanks, you deserve it. You've done so much for me this week."

"Yeah all that roof putting over your head. Really wore me out."

"Don't do that," he said without looking up. "Don't be flippant. You really helped me out this week. I'm not sure what I would have done if you didn't come by the hospital that morning."

"Luke, there's no way I would have left you stranded."

"I know." He poured some rum sauce over his own dessert. "Doesn't mean you don't deserve to be wine, dined and treated well as a form of gratitude."

"Wait… I didn't get any wine, can I get a replay on this? Next time with wine?" She smiled as she caught the look in his eye and waited for him to look up before putting the soufflé into her mouth and slowly dragging the fork out past her lips, knowing full well what he was watching. He let out a laugh and looked away. They finished their soufflés and he deposited their dishes into the sink with the rest.

"So how did you pick you all this furniture?"

"Sorry?"

"Did you move around the couch store, jumping and lying on all the couches?"

"No," he chuckled. "I just went in, saw one l liked. Sat on it. Didn't hate it. Bought it."

"Oh god Luke!" she got up from the table and walked over to the couch to eye it up closer. "How do you know it will stand up to years of wear and tear unless you test it out?" He looked at her with an arched eyebrow as he came up and stood beside her. "That's not what I meant." She added when she caught the curve of a smile haunting his lips.

"Isn't it?"

"God you are so cheesy." She rolled her eyes at him and turned away but he didn't let her. Instead he turned to face her fully, pulled her to face him and kissed her.

Even though she had been expecting him to do that from the very moment she stepped into the apartment she still wasn't quite expecting it when he finally did.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly, one low around her waist the other high around her shoulders. He pressed his lips against hers and held her in place for a moment then tilted his head, parted his lips and let his tongue move against her lips. All the while he moved her backwards so she was standing against the wall and used his body to hold her captive. Her breathing was rapid and she opened her mouth to let his tongue caress hers. He bent slightly to pick her up and pressed her back into the wall, this time hooking one of her legs around his hip and held her in place with his lower body. She tossed his hat aside and ran her fingers through his hair in an effort to get closer to him and deepen the kiss.

When he pulled back and broke the kiss, he kept her in place, one hand ran up and down her leg that was around his hip, the other ran along her side from her shoulder to her waist.

"Thank god…" he panted.

"What?"

"I was afraid that after all the build-up…"

"After all the anticipation…"

"It wouldn't live up to the fantasy."

"But it did."

"Yeah, it did."

He smiled and leaned in to kiss her again. This time gentler and less insistent. He moved his lips from hers to her jaw, her neck and her ear and she circled his neck, buried one hand in her hair and held her in place.

"Are we gonna make out on your new couch?"

"Shhh."

"Is that what all this waiting was about? You wanted to use me to break in your new furniture?"

He was chuckling as he kissed her and she loved how his body shook against hers. He moved away from her and she moaned at the loss of contact but realised he was guiding her away from the wall and over to the couch. Instead she steered him in the opposite direction and brought him over to the bed.

"Better." She backed him up against the bed and pushed him down so he was sitting down as she stood between his legs. She forced him to lie down then straddled his lap and leaned down to kiss him. Her hair cascaded around his face, closing them in a private enclosure as they kissed. He ran his fingers along her back, cupped her ass and held her tight against him. She moaned into his mouth and squirmed on his lap making his move and squirm beneath her.

"Lorelai," he rolled her over onto her back and lay on his side next to her. His hand was on her stomach, two errant fingers just below the hem of her blouse on her warm skin. "This isn't…this isn't why I brought you here, why I waited to kiss you."

"It's not?"

"No. I didn't want to kiss you while I was staying in your house. I didn't want you to think I expected something from you just because I was sleeping in your bed already."

She chuckled. "Oh Luke," she swatted his shoulder. "You need to relax, you need to stop thinking about everything so much, take your moments when they are offered and run with them, be what may."

"Be what may, huh."

"Yeah, be what may."

He looked down at her soft smile. Leaned into the hand that was cupping his face and turned to kiss her palm then leaned over her fully and kissed her properly. She circled her arms around his neck to make sure he wouldn't roll away. He started to undo her blouse and let it fall open then ran his hand along her skin which felt as warm and soft as he expected.

She reached for his belt and pulled it open then unfastened his jeans and pulled them down along with his boxers.

"Straight for the gold huh?"

"You made me wait yesterday. But today…" she rolled him over onto his back. "Today I'm driving."

He lifted his hips and kicked off his shoes as she dropped his jeans, then stood off him and did something he never thought he would actually see Lorelai Gilmore doing in front of him. She reached up under her skirt, to pull down her pantyhose with a shimmy of her hips and it was almost his undoing.

"C'mere…" he reached out to her and she let her blouse fall off her shoulders as she came back to him and straddled his hips again. He sat up to kiss her but she had other ideas. She pulled his top off over his head forcing him to break his kiss but he snatched her back as quick as he could. He reached behind her back and undid her bra to toss it away as quickly as he could. He lavished attention on one breast with his lips while the other got his hand, then he swapped for another moment. Her hips were moving in a slow rhythm against him and it was all he could take. He held onto her tightly and turned them over so she was lying in the centre of his bed then he bowed his head to kiss her as he slid into her in one smooth motion.

She closed her eyes over and moaned at the sensation of him touching her all over and they stilled all movements for a moment as he tried to regain control. But soon he moved over her again, slow steady strokes matched by the rolling motion of his tongue in her mouth. He slid one hand under her ass to curve her hips and give him better purchase. She locked her legs behind his back and moved with him as best she could but as he quickened the pace she struggled to keep up. A warm tingling sensation built up in her core and irradiated around her whole body, making her lose control of her limbs.

She panted and moaned right into his ear, the rhythmic sounds gnawing away at his resolve and soon he was holding on for dear life as the event itself took over. As her movements became erratic and he felt her pelvic muscles juddering around him he knew he could stop trying to hold on and instead he let go. She loved how his chest rubbed against her, his hair causing friction on her smooth skin. And when he was spent and fell atop her, she welcomed his weight. He lay panting for a while then rolled off her, onto his side and took her with him. Limbs entangled and breath mingling they lay motionless, as they both tried to regain their composure.

"That was not really part of the plan." He admitted after a moment.

"No?"

"No. Definitely not."

"Sorry to screw it all up." She chuckled. "What was the plan?" She rubbed her fingers idly through his hair.

"Cooking you dinner. Then a kiss."

"That was it?" She propped her head up with one hand.

"Yeah."

"Helluva plan there Luke."

"Well I didn't really get past the kiss."

"What? Never?" She moved one of her legs just so, and brushed it over his groin making him jerk away.

"Well, hardly ever!"

"So, we christened the new bed." She said.

"Yeah, looks like we did."

"What's next?"

"Shower?"

"Luke Danes…" She swatted his shoulder with a mock shocked expression on her face then launched herself over him and bolted for the bathroom. "Last one in has to make the coffee."


	7. Chapter 7

Luke woke up with his alarm clock in his own bed for the first time in too long. He let his head roll to the side before opening his eyes, even though he know, before he opened his eyes, that she was gone. He rubbed his hand along the dent she left in the pillow, and smiled. He sat up and looked at the dishevelment of his clothing on the floor. He padded his way across the kitchen to make some tea then took a quick shower and dressed. The whole routine taking way longer than usual as he kept pausing and thinking about the events that transpired the night before.

When he was finally ready he went to leave, and only then found the note she had left on his door. It was a yellow post it with her lipstick kiss on the centre and only one word "Later."

He pulled it off the door and slipped it into his pocket then hurried down stairs to start his painting. It wasn't a chore he generally liked but there was something distinctively satisfying about covering the sanded wood with paint. He finished the first coat by lunch time then set out about arranging the seating just in time for the food delivery to arrive.

By the time all that was sorted he started on the second coat and was surprised when he spotted the time was after seven. He pulled the tarps and sheets off everything and looked around the place with a satisfied smile. When the door opened and he turned to see Lorelai walk in his smile widened. Without hesitation she walked right up to him and planted a kiss on his lips. She circled his neck with her arms, held him close and deepened the kiss.

"Planning on christening my diner next?" he said when she stepped away and smiled.

"You wish." She let her hand trail down his arm and held his hand as she looked around at his handiwork.

"Yeah…a little," he muttered and she squeezed his hand.

"The pace looks great. Will you open tomorrow?"

"No, I just need one more delivery of stock."

"I thought your food got here today?"

"Yeah food, but I need all the mugs and plates and cutlery. Scheduled to land tomorrow at 10, maybe I can open for the lunch rush."

"You'll have a queue out the door and round the block. Taylor will be going mad, he'll ask you to apply for a queueing license!"

"We'll see."

"Please, it's going to be great."

"If my delivery arrives."

"If you build it, he will come!" She said in a stage whisper.

"What?"

"Go the distance!"

"Huh?"

"Ease his pain!"

"You're not making any sense."

"God Luke, it's an all American movie about baseball and fathers, how can you not have seen Field of Dreams!" She turned to argue with him but saw the mocking smile on his face and swatted his shoulder instead. He grabbed her wrist and stopped her from hitting him, then took her into his arms and held her close. With one hand on her lower back and the other clutching her hand next to his heart he swayed slowly with her from side to side to music that wasn't even playing.

"What a week," he said lowly and he wasn't sure if she heard him.

"Yeah…"

He lowered his head and kissed her softly then let his forehead rest on hers.

"Whatever came out of that fire, whatever I might have lost, I just feel like I gained so much more."

She smiled and rested in closer to him, put her head on her shoulder in the crook of his neck and kissed his throat tenderly.

"Do you want something to eat?"

"Oh an inaugural burger off the new Luke's diner stove?"

"If you want. Whatever you want."

"How about some waffles?"

"Sure, anything."

He was reluctant to let her go, enjoying how her body moved against his.

"I'll help!" she said as they stepped apart and she followed him into the kitchen. He passed her an apron and she slipped it on. Then he passed her a whisk and a large metal bowl.

"Flour," he passed her the flour.

"How much?"

"Keep pouring until I say."

She tipped the flour into the bowl until his hand warned her to stop. Then he passed her salt and asked her to put in a pinch. Next came the baking powder and the sugar.

"Mix all that together while I get the waffle iron heated up."

"Mixing, I'm mixing," she sang along with her actions as she mixed making him chuckle.

"Are you going to narrate all your actions through song?"

"Yes!" She sang back.

He turned back to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, brushed her hair aside and kissed her neck. "Wow, I can't wait to see how that works out later."

"Dirty!" she sang back to him and they both laughed.

"Okay, okay, put that aside, now we need a new bowl." He handed one down to her from the top shelf and passed her two eggs.

"Shall I put them in?"

"No, just hold onto them and see if they hatch. Of course put them in!"

"Alright I was just asking."

"Add the milk and gimme a sec to melt this butter." When he tipped the butter into the batter he asked her to mix then he added some vanilla extract and watched as she whisked it all together.

"How does it loooooook?"

"Still with the singing?"

She nodded and smiled then jutted her face towards his and pouted her lips for a kiss. He obliged then passed the other bowl back to her and asked her to mix them together.

"What? Why dirty two bowls in the first place, why not just put them all in together."

"The baking powder will disrupt the chemical-" He stopped talking when he saw the look of confusion on her face. "Because it'll taste better."

"Oh! Ok!"

"Right, the waffle iron is ready." He lifted the top and helped her pour in some mixture in each half then closed the lid and fastened it.

"Now we wait…"

"Grab some plates."

"You don't have any plates."

"Oh yeah…"

"Here, you have napkins!"

"Wait I'll run upstairs and grab some, hang on. Don't let them burn."

"Yeah right Luke, what are the chances of another fire burning the place down in as many weeks!" she called after him as he raced away.

She watched the waffle iron like a hawk, waited for the red light to turn green and when it did with a ding she squealed with excitement and reached for the handle. She unfastened the clip and opened the lid but was met by a gooey mess of waffle mixture.

"Oh no… Luke!" she called out. "Luuuuuuke!"

His thundering footsteps came from his own apartment and he charged down the stairs towards her.

"What! What happened?"

"It's gooey!"

"It's not ready." He closed the waffle iron lid and twisted it do the top was now the bottom

"But it dinged!"

"That wasn't and I'm ready ding, it was a temperature ding."

"Then what does the 'm ready ding sound like?"

"It doesn't have and I'm ready ding."

"Then how do you know when they are ready?"

"When they are done!"

"Well that's not much help!"

He gave her the plates and asked her to go set a table while he tried to salvage the waffles. She grabbed the syrups and he asked her to get some fruit from the fridge.

"Why?"

"To go with the waffles."

"But I have syrups. They are a fruit."

"But there are fresh berries in the fridge."

"But there is fresh syrup in the jars."

"Lorelai…please!"

She shrugged as if the idea was new to her but acquiesced to his request. By the time she came out with the fruit he had plated up the waffles on a plate and came out to join her and put one waffles on her plate.

"Dinner is served madam."

He took her hand and guided her to the table, pulled out her seat for her and helped her sit before taking his own seat. She licked her lips and grabbed the jug of strawberry sauce and drizzled it all over her waffle. She passed the jug to him but he declined. Instead he opened the container of chopped strawberries and put some on his waffle.

"Why would you pour that sugar syrup all over your pancake for a strawberry flavour when instead you could just add strawberries?"

"Because of the sticky juice!" She took a bite and relished in the saccharine sticky taste mixed with the flavour of the waffle itself. "This is divine. It's true what they say, food you cook yourself always tastes better. I think I could be a chef. It's not so hard."

"One serving of waffles is not quite the qualifier you need to become a chef."

"But it's a first step." She smiled and took another bite. He ate his strawberries, finished his waffle and ate more strawberries.

"Do you want another?"

"No."

Her refusal shocked him a little and he didn't hide it. "Really? Are you a one waffle girl now?"

"Yeah, looks like it. One large sweet waffle." She leaned forward and he matched her pose, knowing they weren't talking about their dinner anymore. He kissed her tenderly then moved to clear the table. When she tried to help he brushed away her offers of assistance.

"No, you made dinner, let me clean up." He stood in the kitchen by the large sink washing the bowls and the waffle iron when she came in. She didn't hesitate in wrapping her arms around him and he leaned back into her hug. "Do you um, maybe want to stay over tonight?" he asked half turning to face her.

"For a while."

"Only a while?"

"I'm not sure if I'm ready for the town to see me doing the walk of shame out of here at 6am."

"Walk of shame?" he questioned.

"Stride of pride?"

"Better." He shook the water bubbles off his hands and turned in the circle of his arms to face her and kissed her nose. "Okay, so, are you leaving now?"

"Not right now no."

"Good." He kissed her but before it could get too heated he took her hands and led her upstairs, turning off all the lights behind them as they moved.

* * *

For the second morning in a row Luke woke up and groped for her sleeping figure only to come up empty handed. He wasn't sure when he left, he just knew she was gone now. He slapped his alarm to turn off the offending sound then went down stairs to start his prep for the lunch shift he was hoping he'd be open for. He had called Caesar and asked him to come in for noon. He watched the clock for the deliveries and sighed with relief when the truck pulled up at ten thirty and his serving stock was brought in box by box. Only to then realise he had no mugs. He checked his order and realised the cups he had ordered were on back order which meant they wouldn't arrive until the merchant had them in stock. He cursed himself for making such an idiotic mistake and was in the throes of panic when Lorelai rang at eleven.

He told her about the delivery mix up and she tried to calm him down. He had decided to serve all his coffee in his to-go mugs and was still preparing to open at one for lunch. He spent the rest of the morning setting up his kitchen, wrapping cutlery in napkins, chopping tomatoes and onions. Caesar arrived with a song and a dance and immediately got to work in the kitchen preparing the lunch time regulars.

Luke paced behind the counter. He rubbed his palms on his jeans and checked and re checked the time. At half twelve he looked up at a knock on the door to see Lorelai standing there with a smile.

"Hey," she said when he opened the door and she came in. She reached up and kissed him and he welcomed the oblivion from the blind panic he was feeling. "How are you holding up?"

"Barely."

"I brought this for you." She rummaged in her bag for something as they walked through the diner and she took a seat at the counter. With a little flourish she produced a large purple mug out of her bag and he smiled.

"You want a coffee?"

He reached back for the pot of coffee.

"No, at least, not yet." She handed him the cup and smiled. "I want you to have this."

"Thanks Lorelai but one mug isn't going to make a difference."

"I know, but…these might." She went over to the door and walked out, then waved at something he couldn't see before walking in and holding the door open again.

What started as Taylor and Ms Patty, bringing in mugs continued with Jackson, Sookie, Lane, Kirk, Babette and more all walking in, all with mugs all handing them over. Soon nearly every surface of his diner was filled with mugs. Luke stood behind the counter, holding onto the edges of the counter with a white knuckle grip. Lorelai who was still holding the door open, as more and more people tried to cram in, all holding mugs went over to his side and squeezed his arm. He was in shock. His eyes wide open, his mouth agape and his heart pounding in his throat.

"Did you do this?" She nodded happily, realising he wasn't mad but was overwhelmed with joy. An emotion she had never really seen him display, well, she admitted, not in such a public setting.

"C'mon, let's get these on display!"

The cubed shelves behind the counter were soon filled with assorted mugs. The shelving around the room as well as the storage places behind the counter. He looked at his watch and saw it was ten to one. The crowd around the diner was buzzing with excitement and he was nervous as hell. She could see his pulse hammering against his neck and she took his hand and led him into the stock room, then closed the door behind her. He didn't wait to hear what she had to say, what she had brought him in here for instead he grabbed her, pulled her against him and kissed her gruffly. He held her head in place, probed her mouth with his tongue and pressed her against the shelf of grains and canned food.

"You are amazing." He said panting as they parted.

"I try." She shrugged.

"I am nervous as hell." He stepped away from her and braced his hands on his knees and ducked his head low. "I feel like I'm going to vomit."

"Oh, not the best thing one wants to hear after being kissed." She rubbed his back to comfort her.

"Sorry…it's not you."

"I should hope not."

"It's all this…"

"Luke, relax, you will be fine!"

"Yeah…ok." He took a deep breath. Stood up straight again. Grabbed her for another quick kiss then walked out and went straight to the coffee pot. "Okay everybody, Coffee is ready, who was here first?"

**The End.**

* * *

**A/N**: It took all my power not to turn this into a smut fest in the end. And I kind of had a whole other chapter written but I think this is a pretty good ending point. I hope you enjoyed it.


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